President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday.
The bill passed by House Republicans last month would decrease federal revenues by $3.7 trillion and lower spending by $1.3 trillion, according to the CBO’s latest analysis.
The budget package is expected to be tweaked further in the Senate, where it already faces headwinds from deficit hawks who have criticized the bill over concerns that it would lead to exploding deficits.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said earlier Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that he would not vote for the bill as it stands, calling it “grotesque” and “immoral.”
Republican senators also face new outside pressure from Elon Musk, the former head of Trump’s government-slashing DOGE initiative, who slammed the bill as a “disgusting abomination.”
Some GOP lawmakers, including Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie, both of Kentucky, have already sided with Musk.
Johnson, who has repeatedly called for the United States to return to pre-pandemic levels of spending, has backed splitting the bill into two separate parts.
But that proposal has been rejected by Trump, who is urging the GOP to pass his agenda in “one big, beautiful bill” without Democratic help using the reconciliation process.
Meanwhile, Trump allies have repeatedly railed against CBO estimates, seeking to undercut the agency’s credibility.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the CBO “has been historically wrong.”
Senators are facing a time crunch, as Trump has indicated that he wants the package on his desk by July 4.
