Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought on Sunday pushed back against the idea that a sizable package of Republican priorities that recently made it through the House is going to raise the deficit.
“This bill doesn’t increase the deficit or hurt the debt,” Vought told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union,” responding to earlier comments from tech billionaire Elon Musk.
“In fact, it lowers it by $1.4 trillion,” he added.
In a recent “CBS Sunday Morning” interview, Musk said that he “was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit … and it undermines the work that the [Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)] team is doing.”
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed the House late last month following a series of final negotiations and text changes that ultimately secured Republican support for the bill.
“This is a $1.4 trillion, over 10 years deficit reduction. It’s $1.6 trillion in mandatory savings,” Vought said Sunday. “Obviously, we have a little bit of spending in there as well for border and defense, but that is the biggest mandatory savings package that we have seen since the 1970s — 1997.”
Musk also said in a recent CBS interview that he believed that “a bill can be big, or it could be beautiful.
“I don’t know if it could be both,” he added. “My personal opinion.”
