Van Hollen Calls on Ryan, Price to Stop House Republican Attacks on Nonpartisan CBO

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following statement on Republican efforts to discredit the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) as they rush their Trumpcare bill to committee before its impact has been fully evaluated:

"For four decades, the CBO has provided nonpartisan, expert analysis of legislation so that the American people understand the impact of the proposals being debated in Congress. When we passed the ACA, we held hundreds of hours of hearings and countless events with our constituents. Now, House Republicans want to fast track Trumpcare without even CBO's critical analysis, much less a conversation with their colleagues and the people they represent. But preemptively attacking CBO's creditability is simply beyond the pale. It is all part of their effort to hide from the American people the true impact of their plan to destroy the Affordable Care Act.

"Speaker Ryan, as former Chairman of the House Budget Committee, knows just how invaluable CBO's work is. So does Health and Human Services Secretary Price, another former Chairman of the House Budget Committee, who helped select CBO Director Keith Hall as part of the Republican consensus choice. I call on both of them to immediately stop these attacks from House Republicans and stand by the CBO. In this era of alternative facts, ifRepublicans are serious about deficit reduction it is essential that they rely upon the accurate cost assessments of the nonpartisan CBO experts. Republicans should not advance Trumpcare until Congress and the people we represent understand the full scope of its impact."