WASHINGTON — The budget package Senate Republicans unveiled late Monday to fund federal immigration enforcement and President Donald Trump’s proposed White House ballroom will increase deficits by nearly $72 billion over the next 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
The CBO issued its estimate a day after the GOP released a spending package stuffed with tens of billions of dollars for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, billions more for Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement and an astounding $1 billion for Trump’s ballroom plan, a vanity project he wants to build in place of the former East Wing, which he demolished last year.
The $72 billion estimate mirrors the level of spending in the Republican package. The amount added to the deficit jumps to about $94 billion when you factor in interest, says the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
In its analysis of the GOP package, CRFB notes the legislation’s “lack of guardrails” over when this money is appropriated, which could mean billions of dollars in taxpayer money is spent more quickly than anticipated by agencies like ICE or CBP, which would create a demand for still more money.
