Trump tax bill will add $2.4 trillion to the deficit and leave 10.9 million more uninsured, CBO says

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s big bill in Congress would unleash trillions in tax cuts and slash spending, but also spike deficits by $2.4 trillion over the decade and leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance, raising the political stakes for the GOP's signature domestic priority.

Republican leaders in Congress, determined to muscle the sweeping package forward, had little to say after the analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. GOP senators spent more than an hour at the White House in what they called a robust afternoon discussion with Trump.

“We’re committed to making a law that will make the lives of the American people better,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said afterward. He vowed to "get this done one way or another.”

But Democrats angling to halt the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, named after the president’s own catchphrase, piled on with relentless opposition.

“In the words of Elon Musk, this bill is a ‘disgusting abomination,’” said Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, reviving the billionaire former Trump aide’s criticism of the package.

The analysis comes at a crucial moment as Trump is pushing Congress, where Republicans have majority control, to send the final product to his desk to become law by the Fourth of July. The House passed the bill last month by a single vote, but it's now slogging through the Senate, where Republicans want a number of significant changes, including those discussed with Trump.

And the politics are only intensifying.

Musk blindsided Congress with an all-out assault against the bill this week, leaving House Speaker Mike Johnson rushing to do damage control. The GOP speaker said he called Musk to discuss the criticism, but had not heard back. Musk has threatened to use his political apparatus to go after Republicans in the midterm elections.

“I hope he comes around,” Johnson, R-La., told reporters.

Hours later, Musk, whose business interests could be impacted by green energy rollbacks in the bill, implored voters to call their representatives and senators. “Bankrupting America is NOT ok!” he wrote on social media, “KILL the BILL.”

The work of the CBO, which for decades has served as the official scorekeeper of legislation in Congress, is closely watched by lawmakers and others seeking to understand the budgetary impacts of the sprawling 1,000-page-plus package.

The bill includes roughly $3.75 trillion in tax cuts — extending the expiring 2017 individual income tax breaks and temporarily adding new ones that Trump campaigned on, including no taxes on tips. The revenue loss would be partially offset by nearly $1.3 trillion in reduced federal spending elsewhere, namely through Medicaid and food assistance.

As a result, some 7.8 million people would no longer have health insurance with changes to Medicaid, including 5.2 million from the proposed new work requirements on those nondisabled adults up to age 65, with some exceptions, the analysis said. Some 1.4 million people who are in the United States without legal status in state-funded health programs would no longer have coverage.

Also, some 400,000 people would lose insurance coverage from the termination of a medical provider tax that key Republicans, including Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, want to keep in place to ensure rural hospitals can keep paying their bills.

Republicans argue that their proposals are intended to strengthen Medicaid and other programs by rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. They want the federal funding to go to those who most need health care and other services, often citing women and children.

But Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said those claims are bogus and are simply part of long-running GOP efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as most states have expanded Medicaid to serve more people under the program.

“They just want to strangle health care,” Schumer said.

Additionally, the CBO had previously estimated that nearly 4 million fewer people would have food stamps each month due to the legislation’s proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, including new work requirements for some older Americans and parents of school-age children. Some would see their benefits reduced by about $15 by 2034, the CBO has said.

Ahead of the CBO’s release, the White House and Republican leaders criticized the budget office in a preemptive campaign designed to sow doubt in its findings.

Thune said the CBO was “flat wrong” because it underestimated the potential revenue growth from Trump’s first round of tax breaks in 2017. The CBO last year said receipts were $1.5 trillion, or 5.6% greater than predicted, in large part because of the “burst of high inflation” during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

White House Budget Director Russ Vought said when you adjust for “current policy,” which means not counting some $4.5 trillion in existing tax breaks that are simply being extended for the next decade, the overall package actually doesn’t pile onto the deficit. He argued that the spending cuts alone, in fact, help reduce deficits by $1.4 trillion over the decade.

But Democrats and even some Republicans call that “current policy” accounting move a gimmick. Still, it’s the approach Senate Republicans intend to use during their consideration of the package to try to show it does not add to the nation’s deficits. Vought argued that the CBO is the one using a “gimmick” by tallying the costs of continuing those tax breaks that would otherwise expire.

“Russ is right,” Johnson, the House speaker, posted on social media. “Our One Big Beautiful Bill will REDUCE the deficit WHILE delivering on the mandate given to us by the American people."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has also suggested that the CBO’s employees are biased, even though certain budget office workers face strict ethical rules — including restrictions on campaign donations and political activity — to ensure objectivity and impartiality.

The individual income tax breaks that had been approved during Trump's first term in the White House will expire in December if Congress fails to act, in what Republicans warn would be a massive tax hike on many American households.

During the meeting at the White House, Trump pushed senators for his priorities — the new tax breaks on tips, overtime pay and others — while some of the most conservative GOP senators pushed for steeper spending cuts to stem deficits.

And they joked about Musk.

Trump briefly brought up Musk, senators said. GOP Sen. Roger Marshall described it as "a laughing conversation for 30 seconds.”

The package also includes a massive buildup of $350 billion for border security, deportations and national security that is central to the GOP agenda, as well as a $4 trillion increase to the nation’s $36 trillion debt limit, which the Treasury Department says is needed by this summer to pay the nation’s bills.

More than 50 years ago, the CBO was established by law after Congress sought to assert its control, as outlined in the Constitution, over the budget process.

Staffed by some 275 economists, analysts and other employees, the CBO says it seeks to provide Congress with objective, impartial information about budgetary and economic issues.

Its current director, Phillip Swagel, a former Treasury official in Republican President George W. Bush’s administration, was reappointed to a four-year term in 2023.

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Darlene Superville, Joey Cappelletti, Michelle Price and Leah Askarinam contributed to this report.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., walks to board a bus to the White House with other Senate Republicans for a meeting with President Donald Trump on his spending and tax bill, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., flanked by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., center, and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, speak with reporters after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., makes a point as Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., left, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., listen during a news conference on President Donald Trump's bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks about his discussions with Elon Musk this week as he meets with reporters to discuss work on President Donald Trump's bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., finishes a news conference where he commented on Elon Musk's criticism of President Donald Trump's spending and tax bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein,File)

A group of Buddhist monks and their rescue dog are striding single file down country roads and highways across the South, captivating Americans nationwide and inspiring droves of locals to greet them along their route.

In their flowing saffron and ocher robes, the men are walking for peace. It's a meditative tradition more common in South Asian countries, and it's resonating now in the U.S., seemingly as a welcome respite from the conflict, trauma and politics dividing the nation.

Their journey began Oct. 26, 2025, at a Vietnamese Buddhist temple in Texas, and is scheduled to end in mid-February in Washington, D.C., where they will ask Congress to recognize Buddha’s day of birth and enlightenment as a federal holiday. Beyond promoting peace, their highest priority is connecting with people along the way.

“My hope is, when this walk ends, the people we met will continue practicing mindfulness and find peace,” said the Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara, the group’s soft-spoken leader who is making the trek barefoot. He teaches about mindfulness, forgiveness and healing at every stop.

Preferring to sleep each night in tents pitched outdoors, the monks have been surprised to see their message transcend ideologies, drawing huge crowds into churchyards, city halls and town squares across six states. Documenting their journey on social media, they — and their dog, Aloka — have racked up millions of followers online. On Saturday, thousands thronged in Columbia, South Carolina, where the monks chanted on the steps of the State House and received a proclamation from the city's mayor, Daniel Rickenmann.

At their stop Thursday in Saluda, South Carolina, Audrie Pearce joined the crowd lining Main Street. She had driven four hours from her village of Little River, and teared up as Pannakara handed her a flower.

“There’s something traumatic and heart-wrenching happening in our country every day,” said Pearce, who describes herself as spiritual, but not religious. “I looked into their eyes and I saw peace. They’re putting their bodies through such physical torture and yet they radiate peace.”

Hailing from Theravada Buddhist monasteries across the globe, the 19 monks began their 2,300 mile (3,700 kilometer) trek at the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth.

Their journey has not been without peril. On Nov. 19, as the monks were walking along U.S. Highway 90 near Dayton, Texas, their escort vehicle was hit by a distracted truck driver, injuring two monks. One of them lost his leg, reducing the group to 18.

This is Pannakara's first trek in the U.S., but he's walked across several South Asian countries, including a 112-day journey across India in 2022 where he first encountered Aloka, an Indian Pariah dog whose name means divine light in Sanskrit.

Then a stray, the dog followed him and other monks from Kolkata in eastern India all the way to the Nepal border. At one point, he fell critically ill and Pannakara scooped him up in his arms and cared for him until he recovered. Now, Aloka inspires him to keep going when he feels like giving up.

“I named him light because I want him to find the light of wisdom,” Pannakara said.

The monk's feet are now heavily bandaged because he's stepped on rocks, nails and glass along the way. His practice of mindfulness keeps him joyful despite the pain from these injuries, he said.

Still, traversing the southeast United States has presented unique challenges, and pounding pavement day after day has been brutal.

“In India, we can do shortcuts through paddy fields and farms, but we can’t do that here because there are a lot of private properties,” Pannakara said. “But what’s made it beautiful is how people have welcomed and hosted us in spite of not knowing who we are and what we believe.”

In Opelika, Alabama, the Rev. Patrick Hitchman-Craig hosted the monks on Christmas night at his United Methodist congregation.

He expected to see a small crowd, but about 1,000 people showed up, creating the feel of a block party. The monks seemed like the Magi, he said, appearing on Christ’s birthday.

“Anyone who is working for peace in the world in a way that is public and sacrificial is standing close to the heart of Jesus, whether or not they share our tradition,” said Hitchman-Craig. “I was blown away by the number of people and the diversity of who showed up.”

After their night on the church lawn, the monks arrived the next afternoon at the Collins Farm in Cusseta, Alabama. Judy Collins Allen, whose father and brother run the farm, said about 200 people came to meet the monks — the biggest gathering she’s ever witnessed there.

“There was a calm, warmth and sense of community among people who had not met each other before and that was so special,” she said.

Long Si Dong, a spokesperson for the Fort Worth temple, said the monks, when they arrive in Washington, plan to seek recognition of Vesak, the day which marks the birth and enlightenment of the Buddha, as a national holiday.

“Doing so would acknowledge Vesak as a day of reflection, compassion and unity for all people regardless of faith,” he said.

But Pannakara emphasized that their main goal is to help people achieve peace in their lives. The trek is also a separate endeavor from a $200 million campaign to build towering monuments on the temple’s 14-acre property to house the Buddha’s teachings engraved in stone, according to Dong.

The monks practice and teach Vipassana meditation, an ancient Indian technique taught by the Buddha himself as core for attaining enlightenment. It focuses on the mind-body connection — observing breath and physical sensations to understand reality, impermanence and suffering. Some of the monks, including Pannakara, walk barefoot to feel the ground directly and be present in the moment.

Pannakara has told the gathered crowds that they don't aim to convert people to Buddhism.

Brooke Schedneck, professor of religion at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, said the tradition of a peace walk in Theravada Buddhism began in the 1990s when the Venerable Maha Ghosananda, a Cambodian monk, led marches across war-torn areas riddled with landmines to foster national healing after civil war and genocide in his country.

“These walks really inspire people and inspire faith,” Schedneck said. “The core intention is to have others watch and be inspired, not so much through words, but through how they are willing to make this sacrifice by walking and being visible.”

On Thursday, Becki Gable drove nearly 400 miles (about 640 kilometers) from Cullman, Alabama, to catch up with them in Saluda. Raised Methodist, Gable said she wanted some release from the pain of losing her daughter and parents.

“I just felt in my heart that this would help me have peace,” she said. “Maybe I could move a little bit forward in my life.”

Gable says she has already taken one of Pannakara’s teachings to heart. She’s promised herself that each morning, as soon as she awakes, she’d take a piece of paper and write five words on it, just as the monk prescribed.

“Today is my peaceful day.”

Freelance photojournalist Allison Joyce contributed to this report.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," get lunch Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Aloka rests with Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

A sign is seen greeting the Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Supporters pray with Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Supporters watch Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

A Buddhist monk ties a prayer bracelet around the wrist of Josey Lee, 2-months-old, during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, a spiritual leader, speaks to supporters during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Buddhist monks participate in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Buddhist monks participate in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Bhikkhu Pannakara leads other buddhist monks in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Audrie Pearce greets Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Bhikkhu Pannakara, a spiritual leader, speaks to supporters during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," arrive in Saluda, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," are seen with their dog, Aloka, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)