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Pence: Deficit Growth Possible Under Trump Tax Plan

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Robert Donachie Capitol Hill and Health Care Reporter
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Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday that President Donald Trump’s tax proposal could raise the federal deficit in the short-term.

The vice president appeared Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” with Chuck Todd to discuss the details of administration’s plan to overhaul the U.S. tax code. One of the main criticisms of Trump’s tax plan is that it would make huge cuts to federal revenue and increase the deficit. (RELATED: Trump Releases ‘Biggest Tax Cut’ In U.S. History)

Grilling the vice president about the plan, Todd stated flatly, “you are going to increase the deficit.”

Pence acknowledged Todd’s claim, but said that the plan is constructed to produce a 3 percent, or higher, economic growth rate going forward. “Maybe in the short term. But the truth is if we don’t get this economy growing at three percent, or more, as the president believes that we can, we’re never going to meet the obligations that we’ve made today,” Pence told NBC’s Chuck Todd.

The proposal could hit a major snag as it will likely need bi-partisan support in Congress. If the proposal is expected to increase the national-deficit beyond the 10-year window covered by the federal budget, it would require the approval of 60 senators before it could pass. Republicans only have a slight majority in the Senate with 52 members.

Trump and Republican leadership would need to whip at least eight senators behind the proposal if the situation presents itself.

“This is something I hope Democrats would support too, because it is good for the American people,” National Economic Economic Council Director Gary Cohn said at a White House press briefing Wednesday.

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