The following article by Paul M. Krawzak was posted on the Roll Call website July 21, 2017:
Both Republicans and Democrats alike decry attacks
All eight former directors of the Congressional Budget Office — Democrats and Republicans alike — sent a letter to Congress on Friday protesting the ongoing attacks on the agency’s integrity and urging that Congress continue to rely on CBO estimates.
In the letter, the former directors registered what they said was their “strong objection to recent attacks on the integrity and professionalism of the agency and on the agency’s role in the legislative process.”
The nonpartisan agency, which works for Congress, has been the target of sporadic complaints since its founding in 1975. Those came mostly from lawmakers who were dissatisfied with the CBO’s estimate of the cost of legislation they sponsored, including from Democrats unhappy with the 2010 scoring of the health care law.
But the criticism took a more pointed turn in recent months, with attacks coming from Republicans, including the White House and some GOP leaders, who charged the agency is wrong in its estimates that a GOP health care repeal bill would lead to tens of millions more people not having health insurance. Continue reading “Former CBO Directors Confront Assaults on Agency”