CBO: Boehner Plan Doesn't Cut a Trillion

By Erik Wasson

The Congressional Budget Office has told House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) that his debt ceiling fallback plan will reduce the deficit by about $850 billion over ten years.

House GOP rank-and-file have been waiting eagerly for the score since they are worried the bill would not measure up to claims made about it by House leadership. Leadership on Monday said the bill would reduce discretionary spending by $1.2 trillion over ten years.

The CBO revealed the score in a Tuesday letter to the speaker.

The score is against the latest CBO baseline as adjusted to reflect the 2011 spending cuts deal between Congress and the White House that cut $38 billion in budget authority. Those 2011 cuts have ripple effects over the budget window.