House GOP Megabill Would Add $2.4 Trillion to Debt Through 2034: CBO

The bill would add $1.75 trillion through 2029, the CBO estimated.

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington on June 3, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

A sweeping GOP bill to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda that passed the House last month would add more than $2.4 trillion to the national debt by 2034, according to an estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released on June 4.

The legislation, called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, would make the 2017 tax cuts permanent, raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion, and include provisions related to securing the border and unleashing American energy. It includes no taxes on tips or overtime and would tax university endowments at certain thresholds. It is now pending before the Senate.

The bill would add an estimated $1.75 trillion through 2029, according to the CBO.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) dismissed the CBO estimate.

“I think there are some people that start reading too many Congressional Budget Office reports and ignore the lessons of history,” he said at a press conference on June 4. “And there’s an old saying that if you ignore the lessons of history, you’re doomed to repeat it.”

Scalise said that the CBO has “always” been wrong when it comes to making economic prognostications such as when it came to the 2017 Trump tax reform and cuts.

The White House also criticized the CBO.

“Every reporter and hater of the One Big Beautiful Bill that loves to cite the CBO’s projection, must also cite the CBO’s tariff revenue projection. When you combine the two—the deficit will be cut by $500 billion over ten years,” posted White House Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Communications Director Alex Pfeiffer on X.

Billionaire Elon Musk has called the bill an “abomination.”

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” he wrote on social media platform X. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

Musk subsequently wrote that the legislation “will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he spoke with Musk on June 2 about the reconciliation bill.

“We don’t take it personal. ... I think he’s flat wrong,” Johnson said.

Johnson said Musk did not answer the phone when he called him on June 3.

“I think he understands ... the debt cliff is approaching,” Johnson said.

Trump, said Johnson, is “not delighted” by Musk’s comments.