WASHINGTON (Reuters] – The U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve President Joe Biden’s domestic spending bill of $1.75 billion on Thursday. It was a difficult vote after a long delay on a Congressional Budget Office document.

CBO determined that the bill will increase deficit. However, nonpartisan arbitrator noted that it does not account for additional tax enforcement that was required in the bill. Both the White House and Democrats provided their own numbers that proved the bill was financially viable.

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

This research agency is considered the best in legislative analysis and predicts that Biden’s bill “Build back Better” will increase the deficit by $367 million between 2022-2031. The CBO warns however that this estimate doesn’t include additional revenue from any provision designed to improve the Internal Revenue Service’s ability to collect taxes.

BLACK HOUSE

According to the White House’s economic team, the bill will reduce the federal deficit (not increase) by $36.3 billion in ten years. This sum was based partly on the estimate that an IRS provision could raise $400 billion.

CBO/TREASURY/JOINT TX COMMITTEE

A White House estimate also combined forecasts from CBO, Treasury, and bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation. This arm of Congress evaluates tax provisions within legislation.

CBO/Treasury/JTC estimates a deficit reduction of $112.5 billion over the next decade. This is partly due to larger savings on Medicare prescription drugs, and lower spending estimates for provisions such as childcare and universal preschool, which are both higher than the White House estimate.

PENN WHARTON

Republicans in Congress have cited more worrying forecasts coming from independent sources such as the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

According to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, the bill as it stands would result in a deficit of $274 billion over 10 years. This is less than what was predicted by the CBO. Penn Wharton says that if temporary provisions in the bill were to be made permanent, spending could rise up to $4.6 trillion and raise the federal debt by 24.4% over the next decade.