Bessent responded to spending criticism against Trump's big bill: "We can grow our way out of this"

Scott Bessent responded to criticism about the fiscal impact of President Donald Trump's "One Big, Beautiful Bill." After some congressional Republicans, such as Ron Johnson, Rand Paul or Thomas Massie, expressed concern about the legislation's effects on the country's fiscal trajectory, the Treasury secretary assured them that the important thing is that "the economy grows faster than the debt."

In addition to the aforementioned senators and congressmen, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) also targeted Trump's mega-bill, which has already been approved by the House of Representatives.

Indeed, the CBO pointed out that the legislation pushed by the president would add $3.8 trillion to the national debt, a statistic already cited by critics of the bill.

In this context, Bessent spoke to Fox News' "America's Newsroom" to respond to the attacks. He argued that growing the economy will be critical to combating the national debt.

"You're referring to the CBO scoring, I believe, which is tenure scoring, and it's D.C. style scoring. So we think that we can both grow the economy and control the debt. And what's important, Bill, is that the economy grows faster than the debt," he said.

"So what I would tell your viewers to focus on is what I'm focused on, is what Secretary Yellen was focused on, is what is the total debt to GDP, because we can grow our way out of this. That if we change the growth trajectory of the country, of the economy, then we will stabilize our finances and grow our way out of this," the Treasury secretary added.

"With an honest CBO, the bill would pass easily in Congress"

Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House of Representatives, harshly criticized the CBO. He was particularly unconvinced of its supposed impartiality. In an op-ed published on his website, the Republican emphasized the agency's partisan approach, asserting that, when Democrats put forward spending plans, "the CBO makes estimates that are far lower than the actual costs."

To reinforce this point, he quoted Steve Moore, former director of fiscal policy studies at the CATO Institute: "When Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation predicted the bill would cost about $370 billion. Goldman Sachs later released an analysis that estimated the IRA’s 10-year cost would be $1.2 trillion, according to the CATO Institute."

"You would think a 300 percent error would discredit the CBO with media, yet it had no impact," Gingrich stated, encouraging congressional Republicans to send the bill to President Trump's desk.