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Larry Kudlow, the top economic adviser to President Donald Trump
- President Donald Trump's top economic adviser Larry Kudlow downplayed the US record national debt of $22.5 trillion on Tuesday, claiming that it's not a cause of concern and that the federal government is prepared to manage it.
- Kudlow's remarks are a stark departure from his previously stated views in 2009, when he criticized the Obama administration's deficit spending aimed at stimulating the economy during the Great Recession.
- He is sharply at odds with mainstream economic projections of the impact of the Trump administration's tax cuts passed in late 2017.
- During Trump's presidency, the characteristic Republican hawkishness on curbing deficit spending has evolved into a collective shrug over the practice.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump's top economic adviser Larry Kudlow downplayed the US record national debt of $22.5 trillion on Tuesday, claiming that it's not a cause of concern and the federal government is prepared to manage it.
"I don't see this as a huge problem right now at all," Kudlow said at CNBC's Capital Exchange event. "[It's] quite manageable."
He also claimed that revenue analysis of Trump's tax cuts is "coming in very well" and expressed optimism their cost has already been covered.
"I would argue strongly that the corporate tax cut has already been paid for and that roughly two-thirds of the overall tax cut has been paid for," Kudlow said.
Earlier this month, he also said he didn't believe that the government was "at a crisis point" on the national debt.
Read more:The US posted a $234 billion budget deficit in February, the biggest one-month deficit in history
Kudlow's remarks are a stark departure from his previously stated views in 2009, when he criticized the Obama administration's deficit spending aimed at stimulating the economy during the Great Recession. He called it "the most unbalanced fiscal story coming out of Washington, really, in our history."
Kudlow is also sharply at odds with mainstream economic projections of the impact of the Trump administration's tax cuts passed in late 2017. Early last year, the Congressional Budget Office said that the tax law would slash government revenue by $1.9 trillion from 2018 to 2028.
Passed with mostly Republican support, the tax bill delivered permanent tax cuts to corporations while providing temporary ones to individual taxpayers. Republicans at the time argued that lowering taxes would propel economic growth that would bring in additional tax revenue for the federal government. But during Trump's presidency, their characteristic hawkishness on curbing deficit spending has evolved into a collective shrug over the practice.
While the economy is experiencing its longest sustained expansion in American history, the federal deficit is ballooning - when its supposed to shrink during strong economic times.
Read more: The US federal deficit soared to $310 billion to start fiscal year 2019, up 77% from the year before
The CBO said in a report in early June that the deficit was up 40% so far this fiscal year. Government spending was up $255 billion while its revenues only increased by $49 billion in the first eight months of the fiscal year, bringing the total deficit to $738 billion.
Meanwhile, corporate tax revenues are falling, with businesses paying the lowest share of taxes since the Eisenhower administration of the 1950s, according to CBS News.
The gap between the administration's tax and spending views and some Republicans only widened when Rep. Kevin Brady, a main architect of the tax law, suggested last month that it "was hard to know" whether the tax cuts would pay for themselves entirely, The Washington Post reported.
"We will know in year 8, 9 or 10 what revenues it brought in to the government over time. So it's way too early to tell," Brady said at the Peterson Foundation's annual fiscal summit.
At the same event, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted the boosters of the tax law who claimed it would pay for itself.
"Anybody who tells you the fact the tax cuts are going to pay for themselves. It's not true. It's nonsense," Pelosi said. "You can use the full words of BS."