Clyburn: CBO Might Say Spending Bill Isn’t Paid For, ‘They’re the Experts, We’ll Be Guided by What They Say,’ Biden’s ‘Not an Expert’ on CBO

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “New Day,” House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) stated that while the White House and Democrats believe the Build Back Better reconciliation bill will be fully paid for, the Congressional Budget Office might think differently. Clyburn said that if they do, “they’re the experts, we’ll be guided by what they say,” “Even the president’s not an expert in CBO scoring standards,” and that CBO analysis takes into account things that Congressional or White House analysis might miss.

Clyburn stated the White House and Democrats promised that the bill will be paid for. He continued, “Now, we don’t know what the CBO will determine. We have determined that it will be paid for. We have determined that no taxes will be raised on anybody under $400,000 a year. We have determined that we will raise taxes on more wealthy people to pay for it. Now, if CBO comes back and has some other determination, that’s something we’ll have to deal with at the time. But they’re the experts, we’ll be guided by what they say, but that’s not what we think.”

He added, “There’s always a difference in what those of us who are not experts in this sort of thing, we may project something and that’s what we’re projecting. Even the president’s not an expert in CBO scoring standards, and we know what happens with CBO. They take what may be happening over at point A and how it will affect point Z and everything in between, and we don’t do that kind of analysis every time. What we try to do is use our best knowledge to project what our taxes will bring in and what expenditures will go out, and sometimes you may miss something in between. And that’s why we have CBO, to give us their best knowledge and then we’ll be guided by that. That’s exactly why they exist.”

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