Deficits

The U.S. budget deficit will surpass $1 trillion by 2020, two years sooner than previously estimated, as tax cuts and spending increases signed by President Donald Trump do little to boost long-term economic growth, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The Treasury recorded a $215 billion shortfall in February—its largest in six years—as revenue declined after passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The final Republican tax bill set for a House vote Tuesday would add $448 billion to federal deficits over 10 years with economic growth factored in, the right-of-center Tax Foundation said Monday.

The Republican chase for a rare political and policy win with passage of their tax plan has thinned the ranks of the party’s deficit hawks.

It just might be Ted Cruz’s biggest victory as a senator: Helping stop in its tracks a plan late Thursday night to add $350 billion in tax increases to the Senate’s tax bill to placate fellow Republican Senator Bob Corker’s worries about the deficit.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has spent much of his political career warning against the pitfalls of deficit spending and government debt.