Speaker: Critics Wrong, Bill Will 'Reduce the Deficit,' Not Raise It

The liberal media, suddenly concerned about spending and deficits with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), is missing the boat on what President Donald Trump's tax cut and spending program will do for U.S. revenues, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., argued Sunday.

"The One Big Beautiful Bill is a big first step to provide relief for the American people, to give everybody more take home pay, more money in their pocket, and to change the trajectory of the country," Johnson told NBC News' "Meet the Press."

"And again, it's the first of a number of steps. And President Trump is committed to doing this."

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) claims to be "strictly nonpartisan" but have historically got it wrong when it comes to economic growth, Johnson told host Kristen Welker.

"The CBO sometimes gets projections correct, but they're always off every single time when they project economic growth," he said. "They always underestimate the growth that will be brought about by tax cuts and reduction in regulations.

"When we did this in 2017, the first two years of the Trump administration, we literally brought about the greatest economy in the history of the world, not just the U.S., because we got the government off the backs of the people who create the jobs, and we've allowed hardworking Americans to have more money in their pocket that they could take home.

"We're doing that again. Remember in this big, beautiful bill, the reason we call it that is because there's benefits for everybody. It's geared for hardworking Americans, lower and middle income Americans: No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on interest on car loans if you buy products made in the USA."

Critics of Trump's OBBB say it is falling short of the campaign promise of "no tax on Social Security" and the fact it increases deficits, according to CBO projections, but Johnson argues it still will save American taxpayers "$1.6 trillion" when Trump economic growth kicks in full gear.

"We're going to give relief to seniors on Social Security," Johnson said, dispelling criticism that the OBBB provides tax cuts and not full Social Security tax immunity. "There's so many benefits and features in this bill, and it's going to allow everybody to do better and at the same time, projecting and ensuring the largest amount of savings literally in history.

"There's no government on planet Earth that's ever saved over $1.6 trillion in a piece of legislation.

"This one does. And so when you reduce government spending and you allow people to keep more of their hard-earned money, the economy grows. And that's exactly what's going to happen here."

When Welker attempted to press Johnson on Trump having to "own" raising the U.S. debt, Johnson rejected the projection.

"It's not going to add to the debt," Johnson said. "President Trump is laser focused on two primary things: delivering on his campaign promises and the America First agenda, which is what a record number of – you know, 77 million voters, popular votes – requested and demanded and gave us a mandate to do."

Then Welker sought Johnson guarantees, and he rejected the "static" CBO scoring.

"I am telling you this is going to reduce the deficit," Johnson repeated.

"A lot of these groups use what they call static scoring, and not dynamic scoring. Dynamic scoring, in layman's terms, is reality: That we are going to spur on tremendous economic growth here.

"And, so, you're going to have a higher job participation number in the economy, you're going to have higher wages, you're going to have more jobs to provide. And in addition to that, the president's extraordinary policies are producing great things for the country."

Just watch, he concluded, putting the 2026 midterms on the prediction.

"Just wait, everyone will see they're going to be doing a lot better before" the 2026 midterms, according to Johnson.