The new Republican Party platform omits any mention of the federal government’s growing national debt and deficits.
The platform was released by the Republican National Committee and former President Donald Trump’s campaign on Monday. It is significantly condensed from the previous 66-page document, which was last changed in 2016. The new platform is 16 pages long and includes several more populist policy proposals — a notable realignment to Trump’s vision for the United States.
The term “debt” is not mentioned a single time in the new platform, which is roughly 5,400 words long. The term “deficit” is mentioned only once in the context of the country’s trade deficit, not the federal budget deficit.
The omission is a big departure from the 2016 document, which mentions the phrase “debt” a dozen times and first describes the national debt as “a burden on our economy and families” up high in the first section. It also castigates the Obama administration for running up the federal debt.
“We must impose firm caps on future debt, accelerate the repayment of the trillions we now owe in order to reaffirm our principles of responsible and limited government, and remove the burdens we are placing on future generations,” the previous GOP platform read.
“A strong economy is one key to debt reduction, but spending restraint is a necessary component that must be vigorously pursued,” the document added.
The omission is also notable because since the 2016 document was ratified, the situation with debt and deficits has become more dire.
Reacting to the news about the omission, Maya MacGuineas, the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, told the Washington Examiner that it was “very discouraging coming from a party that for many decades focused on controlling spending.”
While the new Republican platform doesn’t prioritize reducing the country’s growing federal debt or deficits, it does emphasize “LARGE TAX CUTS FOR WORKERS” and making the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent. It also includes protecting Social Security and Medicare but said doing so should be done without changes to the retirement age.
The Medicare trust fund will be exhausted in 2036 and the combined Social Security trust fund will become exhausted in 2035, the programs’ trustees projected in May.
“This is a recipe for fiscal irresponsibility, promising not to make changes to Social Security benefits and to cut taxes with no mention of anything that would actually improve the fiscal situation,” MacGuineas said. “And it sets the American people up for not a single dose of reality of what it’s going to take to turn this fiscal situation around.”
Last month, the Congressional Budget Office predicted that fiscal 2024’s deficit will be $1.9 trillion, an increase from fiscal 2023’s deficit of $1.7 trillion. It is also a significant increase from the congressional scorekeeper’s February forecast that this fiscal year would end in a $1.6 trillion deficit.
The 2024 deficit will equal 7% of U.S. gross domestic product. That is a large shortfall, by historical standards, for a period in which the country is not at war or in a major recession.
“Deficits from 2024 to 2034, which total $24 trillion, are about 70% larger than their historical average over the past 50 years when measured in relation to economic output,” CBO Director Phillip Swagel said.
Public debt is predicted to rise from 99% of GDP this year to a whopping 122% of GDP by 2034.
Nevertheless, despite the non-inclusion of action items about debt and deficits, the new platform does mention cutting spending — something that, all else equal, would lower deficits. Cutting spending could also be a way to help stabilize inflation as it can dampen overall demand pressures.
“Republicans will immediately stabilize the Economy by slashing wasteful Government spending and promoting Economic Growth,” the new platform says.
There are several economic issues that are prioritized in the newest iteration of the GOP agenda, some of which align with Trump’s economic policy priorities.
For instance, Trump has floated the idea of 10% across-the-board tariffs, which would be a massive departure from decades of trade policy. The former president even flirted with the idea of reducing the income tax and replacing it with tariffs during a recent meeting with Republicans in Washington.
“Our Trade deficit in goods has grown to over $1 Trillion Dollars a year,” the new platform reads. “Republicans will support baseline Tariffs on Foreign-made goods, pass the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act, and respond to unfair Trading practices. As Tariffs on Foreign Producers go up, Taxes on American Workers, Families, and Businesses can come down.”
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The Reciprocal Trade Act would allow Trump to impose tariffs unilaterally of equal size to any tariffs placed by other countries on the U.S.
The RNC’s platform panel passed the latest guidelines in an 84-18 vote Monday, showing pretty overwhelming approval for the changes by the panel.