Republicans target the CBO as part of a larger offensive against independent obstacles
Last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi chose Door #3, slamming the American Bar Association for making assessments the White House didn't like and cutting off the ABA's access to nonpublic information about would-be jurists.
Around the same time, the Trump administration also signaled that it was dissatisfied with the nation's leading medical journals for publishing scientific findings the White House also didn't like, reportedly leading the Department of Veterans Affairs to order scientists not to publish in journals without approval from presidential appointees.
While these stories are notable in their own right, together they reflect a larger offensive against entities that many Republicans see as independent obstacles.
But to fully appreciate the scope of the offensive, consider the partisan campaign against the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Reminded of the CBO's recent analysis of the Republicans' domestic policy megabill, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that 'the Congressional Budget Office has been historically wrong,' adding, 'I don't think many people know this, there hasn't been a single staffer in the entire Congressional Budget Office that has contributed to a Republican since the year 2000.'
A Washington Post fact-check report gave Leavitt's claim the dreaded 'Four Pinocchios,' while noting, '[T]he White House's campaign against the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan agency that vets the cost of major legislation, is veering into the ridiculous.'
That's an easy assessment to agree with. The CBO's current director worked in George W. Bush's Treasury Department, has donated to Republican candidates and, perhaps most importantly, was chosen for his current position by Republican lawmakers. The idea that he's overseeing some left-wing operation hellbent on tarnishing GOP proposals is plainly silly.
As for the idea that CBO scores have 'historically' been 'wrong,' the office's track record on forecasting future budget deficits has been pretty impressive in recent years.
And yet the Republican offensive against the CBO and its credibility has been relentless as the party has tried desperately to advance its inaptly named 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent helping to lead the charge with claims that have immediately collapsed under scrutiny.
Even the president himself joined the pile-on last week, claiming that the CBO is 'inspired' and 'controlled' by Democrats, which is plainly false. To bolster his point, Trump pointed to a recent CBO report on economic growth forecasts that was not, in reality, released by the CBO. (Trump apparently confused the CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation.)
If recent history is any guide, these partisan tactics won't end anytime soon. But for the public, the fact that too many Republicans see independent sources of information as obstacles worthy of attack speaks volumes about the quality of the party's ideas.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
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