Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested there could be a chance that President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” may add to the $36 trillion national debt.
Bessent appeared before the House Ways & Means Committee on Wednesday, a hearing that Democrats used to sharpen their attacks against Republicans’ massive Trump agenda bill.
At one point, Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., asked Bessent whether the bill would add to the U.S. debt.
“It remains to be seen,” Bessent answered.
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Sewell pointed to modeling by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that said the bill would add $2.4 trillion in federal deficits over the next 10 years.
The national debt, which is currently nearing $37 trillion, and the U.S. spending deficits are not the same thing – the national debt refers to the cumulative sum owed by the federal government, while the deficit is the net difference between what the government spends and what revenues it brings in.
Bessent pointed out the CBO said Trump’s tariff policies could reduce the deficit by $2.8 trillion over a decade, which in theory would create a surplus under the legislation.
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“You want to talk about dynamic scoring and all that–” Sewell began, before being cut off by Bessent again.
Bessent said, “There’s nothing dynamic about that. You’re quoting the CBO. I’m quoting the CBO. So let’s level set.”
At an earlier point, Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, a member of the House’s taxwriting panel who also chairs the House Budget Committee, also took on Democrats’ accusations that the bill would add to the debt.
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“Now let’s move to this notion… that somehow we’ve increased the national debt in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Forget for a minute that they, under their control, full Democrat control, added $8 trillion to the national debt,” Arrington said.
“If you take CBO’s static scores, the cost of the bill is about $4.16 trillion. If you take the 1.7 trillion in savings, the largest spending reduction in the history of the United States by twofold, and you put a conservative growth rate – because CBO’s growth rate is 1.8 in their baseline, that 1.8 is based on the last four years of failed economic policies and unbridled spending… the net effect is, we reduce the deficit.”
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