CNN anchor Kate Bolduan called out Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) for dismissing the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the House GOP’s Israel aid bill. Norman had criticized the CBO, claiming they have an agenda to support the Biden administration. However, Bolduan pointed out that Norman had previously praised the CBO’s findings when they aligned with his political views.
The Israel aid bill, which narrowly passed the House, caused a partisan dispute and is likely to delay emergency military aid to Israel. The bill provides $14.3 billion in aid to Israel but offsets this cost by cutting $14.3 billion in funds to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Contrary to House Republicans’ goal of not increasing the national debt, the CBO found that the legislation would add $26.8 billion to the deficit over the next decade. The IRS stated that the cuts would cost the government $90 billion over the same period due to reduced capacity for auditing wealthy corporations and enforcing collections.
These trade-offs angered Democrats, leading to the bill’s demise in the Senate and White House.
During his appearance on CNN News Central, Norman defended the GOP’s actions, claiming that Democrats preferred the IRS agents over supporting Israel. Bolduan countered his argument by highlighting the CBO’s analysis, which showed that the bill would worsen the deficit even with the cuts to the IRS.
Norman expressed his lack of confidence in the CBO, accusing them of having a biased agenda. He criticized the Democrats for not having a “pay-for” when it comes to providing additional aid.
Bolduan then confronted Norman about his past support for the CBO’s budgetary analysis, citing a press release from his office that praised the CBO’s report on out-of-control spending and national debt. She questioned what had changed since then.
Norman attempted to deflect the question by discussing “wokeness” and the White House’s alleged failure to propose spending cuts. He argued that the Biden administration couldn’t find any offsets to mitigate the increasing deficit, pointing to areas like the military’s “woke agenda” as potential sources of funding for aid to Israel and Ukraine.
Overall, the exchange between Bolduan and Norman highlighted the hypocrisy in Norman’s dismissive attitude toward the CBO’s analysis and his previous reliance on their findings when it suited his political agenda.
