Speaker of the House John Boehner was dealt a potentially devastating blow Tuesday when a Congressional Budget Office scoring of his debt limit proposal showed the plan would save significantly less than the $1.2 trillion promised.
According to the CBO, the plan would only cut $840 billion. (RELATED: GOP divided over Boehner’s plan)
When the dismal score was made public, Michael Steel, a spokesperson for Boehner, said staff members were busy rewriting the legislation.
“We’re here to change Washington — no more smoke and mirrors, no more ‘phantom cuts,'” said Steel. “We promised that we will cut spending more than we increase the debt limit — with no tax hikes — and we will keep that promise. As we speak, congressional staff are looking at options to rewrite the legislation to meet our pledge.”
“This is what can happen when you have an actual plan and submit it for independent review — which the Democrats who run Washington have refused to do,” he added.
The CBO analysis will make it that much harder for the GOP leadership to convince caucus members to vote for the plan. Several members of Congress publicly opposed the plan Tuesday, saying it was too heavy on compromise and too weak on real, fundamental change.