November 30, 2017

Warren Calls for Investigation into Treasury's Economic Analysis of GOP Tax Plan

As Senate Prepares to Vote, Treasury Fails to Produce Any Formal Analysis Supporting Mnuchin's Claim that Tax Plan Will Pay for Itself

Text of the letter available here (PDF)

Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today called for an investigation into the Department of Treasury's alleged economic analysis of the Republican tax plan. 

Senator Warren cited economic experts who contradict Secretary Steven Mnuchin's claims that the tax plan will "not only ... pay for itself, but it will pay down debt." She also expressed concern that on the eve of the Senate's vote to support the plan, the Treasury Department has yet to produce any support for Secretary Mnuchin's statements, despite his previous promise that the Department would release an analysis of the tax plan.  According to recent reports, Secretary Mnuchin has claimed that over 100 people are "working around the clock on running scenarios for us" to show that the corporate tax cuts will pay for themselves.

"Either the Treasury Department has used extensive taxpayer funds to conduct economic analyses that it refuses to release because those analyses would contradict the Treasury Secretary's claims, or Secretary Mnuchin has grossly misled the public about the extent of the Treasury Department's analysis.  I am deeply concerned about either possibility," wrote Senator Warren to the Treasury Department's Inspector General. 

Senator Warren requested that the Inspector General conduct a review of the Treasury Department's use of taxpayer dollars to conduct economic analysis of the tax plan, including whether there was any political interference in the Department's analyses, and why they were not publicly released.

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