![CNBC's Joe Kernen confronted Deputy Treasury Sec. Wally Adeyemo on Monday over claims from the Biden administration that the deficit has been reduced. [Screenshot CNBC]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Screenshot-2023-09-11-at-10.12.37-AM-e1694441615917.png "CNBC's Joe Kernen confronted Deputy Treasury Sec. Wally Adeyemo on Monday over claims from the Biden administration that the deficit has been reduced. [Screenshot CNBC]")
CNBC’s Joe Kernen confronted Deputy Treasury Sec. Wally Adeyemo on Monday over claims from the Biden administration that the deficit has been reduced.
The deficit is expected to reach $2 trillion, doubling 2022’s $1 trillion deficit following an increase in government spending through the so-called Inflation Reduction Act and higher Social Security payments due to inflation, The Washington Post reported. Biden has consistently claimed his administration has reduced the federal deficit but government spending was only reduced after Covid-19-related spending measures expired after Biden entered office.
“We hear the president consistently, and a lot of his people, bragging about having cut the deficit when it was a trillion last year, and it’s a 2 trillion this year. Are you concerned? What about next year? What should — should we not be like, perhaps misleading the public about how we’ve done with the deficit and start tackling it?” Kernen asked.
“So I think the truth is that we cut a deal with Republicans,” Adeyemo said.
“No, I just mean, big picture. What do we do? Another 2 trillion — no, we haven’t cut the deficit this year, we doubled it from last year.” (RELATED: ‘Historically Inaccurate’: Bob Good Clashes With MSNBC Host Over Trump Tax Cuts’ Impact On National Debt)
“I think big picture, the goal has got to be that we take steps to make sure that we have fiscal sustainability. The president laid out a plan that includes $3 trillion of bringing down — that will bring down the deficit. I think the question really is what is the other side proposing? We’ve proposed increasing funding for the IRS, so we can collect some of the money that people who don’t pay, pay. Ultimately we have a gap in terms of the money the IRS is owed, it is about $600 billion a year. If we close that gap, that’s up to $6 trillion over the same period,” Adeyemo argued.
WATCH:
“You know, I think the president’s also called for certain cuts and making sure that we’re in a position where we can reduce the cost of health care, which is a huge cost in our economy, by cutting the cost of prescription drugs, looking at ways that we can cut subsidies in the economy, to oil and gas industry,” he continued. “But I think in order for us to get to a deal, you’ve got to have the other side be in a position where they have proposals that are credible going forward, and the president’s willing to and committed to having that conversation, to try and make sure that we’re on a fiscally sustainable path.”
The White House was pressed in February about Biden’s claims he reduced the deficit, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ignoring the Covid-19 funding aspect and instead arguing Biden has made it his mission as a politician to reduce spending before trying to blame Republicans.