WASHINGTON _ The Congressional Budget Office on Monday projected that deficits and the national debt will rise dramatically in coming years, beyond the already daunting levels anticipated before the Trump administration took office.
The new estimate comes after several months marked by substantial policy changes, including a $1.5 trillion tax cut plan and a $1.3 trillion spending bill signed by President Donald Trump.
The last CBO report issued during the Obama administration said that after a $587 billion deficit in 2016, the shortfall was expected to break the $1 trillion mark in 2023, rising to $1.4 trillion in 2027. The total over the 10-year span beginning in 2017 was projected to be $9.4 trillion.
The new report said 10-year debt will now hit $12.4 trillion, after breaking the $1 trillion mark in 2020.
In its 2017 projection, the CBO estimated that by 2027 the national debt would comprise 88.9 percent of the gross domestic product, just below the level at which economists say its load would itself harm the economy.
The new report said that by 2028, the debt load will exceed 96 percent of GDP.
"That amount is far greater than the debt in any year since just after World War II," the report said.
The CBO is the nonpartisan agency charged with delivering independent analysis of the economy, budget bills and other legislation.
Trump has routinely ignored the debt and deficit. During the campaign he advocated protecting numerous expensive programs _ including Social Security and Medicare _ and never squared the fiscal impact of the tax cuts he also favored.
His formal budget proposals have been far harsher, but the Republican-led Congress has pushed against his proposed cutbacks because of their political unpopularity and the need to attract Democratic votes in order to pass any plan. But they, too, did little to offset the loss of revenue from the tax cut plan.
