Republicans pulled off one of the biggest budget scams in U.S. history — and now they’re proudly lying about it on the campaign trail.
When GOP lawmakers passed their massive tax bill, they used a shady accounting trick to make it look like it would cost the government just $715 billion over 10 years, according to Politico. That fake number helped them pass the bill without facing the political blowback of exploding the federal deficit.
But now, that same party is out on the trail bragging that they delivered a $4.5 trillion tax cut — one of the biggest ever.
You read that right: They lied to get it passed, then flipped the script to hype it up to voters.
“We delivered the largest tax cut in American history,” President Donald Trump boasted.
How the Scam Worked
During the debate, Republicans ditched the usual budgeting rules — known as the “conventional baseline” — and used what’s called a “current policy baseline.” That let them pretend that many expiring tax breaks were already permanent, so extending them wouldn’t cost anything.
The result? A much smaller “price tag” on paper: just $715 billion, Politico reports.
But under real accounting? It’s more than six times that. The actual cost, using standard budget math, is around $4.5 trillion. More importantly, Republicans knew this all along. They just didn’t want you to know it when the bill was moving through Congress.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) called it what it was: a “budget gimmick” that let Republicans hand a “massive tax giveaway to billionaires” while pretending it wouldn’t hurt the deficit.
Now they’re selling the lie.
Barely a month after the bill was signed into law, Senate Republicans posted on X that they had just cut taxes by $4.3 trillion. They’re now openly claiming they passed one of the biggest tax cuts in history — even though they insisted it was barely a blip on the budget when they voted for it.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) brushed off questions about the contradictory numbers, calling it a “nerdy” debate:
“That’s a great discussion for economists — that’s not necessarily a great discussion for a politician on the campaign trail,” he said.
Translation: They don’t care if it’s dishonest — they just care if it wins votes.
Some Republicans are trying to rewrite the narrative — not with facts, but with carefully crafted spin.
“I can’t control what other people say,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). He tells voters the GOP prevented a $4 trillion tax hike — sidestepping the reality that they handed out $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. It’s not the same lie, but it bends the truth all the same.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) is using a similar line:
“I always talk about how we stopped the largest tax increase in American history.”
Except there wasn’t a $4 trillion tax increase set in stone — just temporary tax breaks that were due to expire. Republicans extended those breaks, then used that maneuver to both claim they cost nothing and brag about how much they gave away.
What Voters Really Get
Republicans claim the tax cuts are historic, but for most Americans, the benefits are modest. According to the official Joint Committee on Taxation:
Under the real baseline, households making $60,000 to $80,000 would see a 12% tax cut in 2027.
Under the GOP’s trick math, it drops to just 4.2%.
Either way, the richest Americans and corporations get the lion’s share of the benefits.
Meanwhile, the package includes controversial cuts to programs like Medicaid — a tradeoff that many voters aren’t even aware of yet.
Republicans sold a $4.5 trillion tax cut as if it cost next to nothing. Now they’re spinning that same cut as the biggest ever — depending on who’s listening.
They rigged the math to get it through. Now they’re rewriting the story to sell it back to voters.
It’s not just spin. It’s not just politics. It’s the biggest scam yet.
