SCOOP: Republicans roll out bills targeting CBO for its "questionably low accuracy rates"

THE LOWDOWN:

• Capitol Hill Republicans are rolling out a series of bills taking aim at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) amidst concerns that its predictions are often wrong and that the agency has no accountability for its errors.

• Rep. Andy Barr (R., Ky.) and 20 Republican cosponsors are the latest to put the CBO in their crosshairs with the CBO Scoring Accountability Act, which requires regular reviews of its cost estimates and demands transparency when its projections are off by a significant margin.

• This bill “brings long-overdue accountability to the Congressional Budget Office,” a source familiar told the Washington Reporter.

• Barr’s bill isn’t the only one that Republicans have rolled out recently. Rep. Claudia Tenney (R., N.Y.) is a cosponsor of his bill but also has her own bill, the REPEAL CBO Requirements Act.

Capitol Hill Republicans are rolling out a series of bills taking aim at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) amidst concerns that its predictions are often wrong and that the agency has no accountability for its errors.

Rep. Andy Barr (R., Ky.) and 20 Republican cosponsors are the latest to put the CBO in their crosshairs with the CBO Scoring Accountability Act, which requires regular reviews of its cost estimates and demands transparency when its projections are off by a significant margin.

This bill “brings long-overdue accountability to the Congressional Budget Office,” a source familiar told the Washington Reporter.

“This isn’t about politics; it’s about restoring fiscal sanity. President Trump was right when he called out the broken system in Washington that puts special interests ahead of taxpayers,” Barr said. “This bill is a serious step towards delivering honest numbers, enforcing discipline, and backing a conservative budget agenda that puts America First and stops the Left’s addiction to spending.”

Barr’s bill isn’t the only one that Republicans have rolled out recently. Rep. Claudia Tenney (R., N.Y.) is a cosponsor of his bill but also has her own bill, the REPEAL CBO Requirements Act.

“This bill affords Senate rule makers the ability to consider outside, independent experts by addressing the concept of dynamic scoring instead of being confined to static scoring that does not reflect the full impact of tax cuts,” she told the Reporter. “Historically, CBO and JCT have questionably low accuracy rates.”

If Barr, Tenney, and their colleagues have their way, that might not be true for much longer.