Donald Trump’s campaign agenda would add far more to the debt than Hillary Clinton’s would, according to an independent analysis released Thursday, even after the Republican revised his tax plan to make it less costly to the Treasury.
Clinton’s proposals for spending and taxing would add $200 billion to the federal debt over 10 years, the nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found in an updated analysis.
But Trump’s would add $5.3 trillion, mostly because of the historic tax cut he has pledged.
The group, which advocates lower deficits and debt, warns that even without new costly programs or tax cuts, the debt is already projected to rise to 86 percent of the economy, a high level that could have negative consequences for the economy.
Of the two candidates, Clinton would be the bigger spender. She has called for a litany of new, expensive government programs that would add up to $1.65 trillion in the next decade, including debt-free public college, infrastructure spending, drug benefits and more.
While Trump also has proposed new programs, including paid family leave and spending on veterans, he has called for spending cuts, such as a “penny plan” consisting of annual cuts to nondefense discretionary spending.
Nevertheless, Clinton has outlined tax increases to finance her spending programs, while Trump has called for major tax cuts.
Last week, the Trump campaign released an updated tax plan that had been revamped to lower the expected cost. An earlier version had been scored by outside groups as adding upwards of $10 trillion to the federal debt in just 10 years, which would have meant nearly doubling the federal debt.
The new version scaled back those revenue losses by removing tax breaks for high-income earners and raising some tax rates.
Nevertheless, it would still result in $4.5 trillion less revenue, according to the group.
Trump at times has run as a deficit and debt hawk. At various points along the campaign trail, he has suggested that he would lower the debt by increasing economic growth or through creative financial management. In May, an adviser boasted that Trump would not only pay off the existing $14 trillion in debt held by the public, but also create a multitrillion surplus.
At other times, however, he has indicated that reducing the debt is not a priority, with interest rates today very low.
