[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 47 (Tuesday, March 14, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S756]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Congressional Budget Office

  Mr. President, finally, today, CBO released a letter confirming what 
most of us already knew: The Republican plan to balance the budget in 
10 years and keep the Trump tax cuts is impossible--mathematically 
impossible--without making cuts to Social Security, Medicare, defense, 
and veterans' benefits.
  To balance the budget in 10 years with no new revenues, while somehow 
leaving Medicare, Social Security, veterans' programs, and defense 
unscathed, Republicans would have to cut 86 percent from every other 
Federal program. That means nearly obliterating funds for Medicaid, for 
food and housing support, border security, healthcare, infrastructure.
  This leaves Americans with a profound worry about their benefits, and 
it leaves Americans with some big questions down the road. If 
Republicans can't reach their goals without forcing severe cuts down 
Americans' throats, then what exactly are they planning to do?
  To date, Republicans have refused to talk straight with the American 
people about budget cuts.
  Speaker McCarthy, today is March 14. Show us your plan.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Illinois.