Price tags for Trump, Harris agendas climb in new analysis

The projected price tags for former President Trump's and Vice President Harris’s proposals have climbed in a new analysis, though Trump’s agenda is still estimated to cost roughly twice as much as the policies put forward by his competitor.

In the new analysis released by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), the prominent nonpartisan think tank estimated Trump’s plans could add $7.75 trillion to the national debt over roughly the next decade, compared to an estimated $3.95 trillion boost for Harris’s policies.

The figures mark an increase in central estimates of the candidates’ agendas released by the group earlier this month, once the costs of additional proposals from Trump and Harris were factored in.

That includes the potential budget impact of Trump’s proposals for new tax breaks for individuals and a pitch to beef up a tax break for small businesses — measures the group said its central estimate found could lead to a $200 billion reduction in revenue over a decade.

The group also acknowledged recent comments Trump made earlier this month on the matter of exempting workers like firefighters, police, active-duty military, and veterans from paying taxes.

“It’s something I would think about,” Trump said when pressed on the issue during an appearance on “Maintaining with Tyrus.”

The budget group said it did not consider the potential idea as a campaign proposal given how Trump “described the policy,” but it also estimated such a move “could lead to very large reductions in revenue (perhaps $1 trillion over ten years) if it were to actually become law.”

The group also looked at Harris’s proposed Medicare expansion and the campaign's proposal for “reinstating the Affordable Connectivity Program and providing 1 million fully forgivable business loans of up to $20,000.” Together, the group estimated those proposals could also cost an additional several hundred billion dollars.

The national debt now stands at more than $35 trillion. In the recent analysis, the CRFB estimated the national debt would grow faster than the economy under both candidates and “in most scenarios would grow faster and higher than under current law.”

“The national debt currently stands at 99 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is projected to grow from 102 percent of GDP at the start of FY 2026 to 125 percent by the end of 2035 based on the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) current law baseline. The debt will exceed its record as a share of the economy – 106 percent set in 1946 – in just three years,” the report read.

“Under our central estimates, we find that Vice President Harris’s plan would push debt to 134 percent of GDP in FY 2035 – a 9 percent of GDP increase. We estimate President Trump’s plan would push debt to 143 percent of GDP in 2035 – an 18 percent of GDP increase,” the analysis also found.

The Hill has reached out to both campaigns for comment.