U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, the Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, has commented on a new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) following a recent Supreme Court decision. The CBO report projects that ending former President Trump’s tariffs will increase the national debt by an additional $2 trillion over the next decade.
According to Merkley, "Just last week, CBO told us how the Republican Big, Ugly Betrayal law was crafted to hurt families, benefit billionaires, and explode our national debt to unforeseen levels. Now, following the Supreme Court overturning Trump’s illegal and chaotic tariffs, we see that the debt will increase by another $2 trillion – all because Trump’s self-imposed tax on American families that he used to ‘offset’ many of the costs in his Big, Ugly Betrayal law couldn’t survive the scrutiny of even an incredibly conservative Court. As always, his agenda: ‘families lose, billionaires win.’"
Merkley also criticized both President Trump and Congress for increasing federal debt. "With only a little over a year in office, this president and this Republican-led Congress added trillions to our debt at the expense of working families. This has to end. We cannot continue to allow our government to operate this way," said Merkley.
The CBO previously reported in February that national debt was expected to rise by $24 trillion over 10 years and reach 120 percent of GDP by 2036. After factoring in the Supreme Court’s ruling against Trump's tariff policy, those projections have increased; now federal debt is forecasted to grow by $26 trillion over ten years and reach 124 percent of GDP.
