Current, former CBO directors discuss Biden's claim of lowering federal deficit
Current CBO director Phillip Swagel and former director Douglas Holtz-Eaken discussed the truth behind Biden's claims of lowering the federal deficit.
President Joe Biden has taken credit for lowering the federal deficit, but the reality is a bit more complicated, a current and a former director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said.
The federal deficit is projected to shrink to $1 trillion in 2022, down from $2.8 trillion last year, according to projections from the CBO.
President Biden has taken credit for a post-COVID lowering of the federal deficit, earlier this month saying the administration is positioned for "the biggest decline in a single year ever in American history."
"Let me remind you again: I reduced the federal deficit," he said in a speech earlier this month. "All the talk about the deficit from my Republican friends, I love it. I’ve reduced $350 billion in my first year in office."
Phillip Swagel, the current director of the Congressional Budget Office, told Fox News Digital presidents get the blame, or credit, for what takes place during their administration, but there were many factors that lower the federal deficit.
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Swagel, who spoke to Fox News Digital at the 2022 Milken Global Conference, said the lowering of the deficit was "in part because there was immense emergency spending during the pandemic, and that spending is ending."
Brian Deese, the Director of the National Economic Council was asked on CNN about how the Biden administration got inflation "so wrong."(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Swagel also credited the economic rebound following the COVID lockdowns. "As the economy has come back, so too have tax revenues, and so that is contributing to the lower budget deficit."
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Former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eaken told Fox News Digital it was not surprising that the deficit was lowered.
"With the recovery in the economy, it was expected that the deficit would get smaller," he said. "We’re seeing the tax revenue and the number of people on unemployment go down, and so there was going to be improvements."
Holtz-Eaken said the expiration of the CARES act and the fact that there was not another American Rescue Plan made the deficit look much smaller.
"He didn’t really do anything, he was there while it happened," he said. "It’s not like his administration went out and said, okay, we’re going to do a big tax increase or we’re doing to do $400 billion of spending cuts. They’ve done neither."
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"What CBO would say is the deficit is coming down under current law," Swagel said, crediting both legislative actions and the rebounding economy.
"It’s natural the president would take credit when the economy is strong," he added. "And of course, it’s natural that when the economy is weak or if inflation is high, people will look to the president for that as well."