Warner & Kaine Statement on Republican Megabill Adding More Than $4 Trillion to the Deficit Over the Next 10 Years

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) released the following statement regarding the official score from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that President Trump and Republicans’ megabill will add $3.4 trillion to the budget deficit through 2034, before accounting for added interest costs. Including additional interest, the bill will increase borrowing by $4.1 trillion:

“The official CBO score on President Trump and Republicans’ ‘Big, Ugly Bill,’ which comes weeks after the law's passage because Republicans fast-tracked it, confirms what we’ve been saying all along: when push comes to shove, Republicans will always do whatever it takes to give tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. We wish they could bring that same determination to lowering the deficit and helping working- and middle-class families. Today’s news is further proof that the partisan megabill remains a bad deal for Americans—exploding the debt, forcing millions off their health insurance, slashing food assistance programs, and killing jobs. We will keep working to safeguard Virginians from the disastrous impacts this law will have for Virginia and the country.”

The Republican law, which Warner and Kaine strongly opposed, makes massive cuts to health care, nutrition assistance, and other critical programs that Virginians rely on in order to cut taxes for the ultra-wealthy. While the bill was being considered in the Senate, Warner and Kaine introduced a series of amendments in an attempt to improve the legislation, but Republicans blocked them. Under the Republican bill, hundreds of thousands of Virginians will lose health insurance because of cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, and many rural hospitals will lose federal funding from Medicaid, putting them at risk of closure.

78,000 Virginians will lose access to some benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Virginia will be required to contribute an estimated $263 million annually in state cost-share for benefits, which have always been fully federally funded. The law jeopardizes clean energy jobs in Virginia by phasing out clean energy and energy efficiency tax credits and incentives that were passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. The law gives the top 0.1% a $250,000 tax cut and makes it harder for students to access student loans. The legislation also includes $85 million to move the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia to Houston, Texas; the full cost to move the space shuttle is estimated to be $300 million to $400 million.

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