At Budget Hearing, Boyle Slams Republican Affordability and Health Care Crisis

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Pennsylvania Congressman Brendan F. Boyle, Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, delivered remarks at a Budget Committee hearing on "Oversight of the Congressional Budget Office."

At today's hearing, Ranking Member Boyle outlined CBO's analysis confirming Republican policies will drive up costs for working families. Boyle also called on Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to testify before the committee about Trump's disastrous economic agenda and abuses of power.

Remarks as delivered and video are below:

(Click for video of remarks as delivered)

Ranking Member Boyle's remarks as delivered:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I almost forgot how to get here since it's been two months on the Mike Johnson-imposed fall break. But it's nice to see everyone again. I think we need to take a step back here. And I'm glad to have, and thank you very much Dr. Swagel for being here, and to all 270 of your CBO employees, thank you for what you do. Really, the unsung work of government that, too often, does not get thanked. So I want to say thank you. It is important to remember, however, it is not you, and it is no one at CBO that is the cause of 15 million Americans losing their health care over the next year.

That is because of the Republican-passed tax bill of a few months ago, what used to be called the Big Beautiful Bill, until polls showed it became so deeply unpopular even the president who branded it that has stopped calling it by that name, has even stopped talking about the bill altogether. Millions of people losing their healthcare to pay for tax breaks, mostly for billionaires.

That is the main thing that has happened this year. Of course, it's not just health care that has become unaffordable in America. It is beef, it is other groceries, it's coffee, it's electricity. Almost every staple in the average consumer basket has gone up rather than down over the last 12 months, and that is not because of any action by Dr. Swagel or anyone at CBO. So while the shutdown may be over, and I think we're all very happy about that, the fight to save the health care of the American people goes on, the fight for not just the 15 million people who will lose their health care over the next year.

The biggest loss of health care in American history will take place over the course of the next year, not by a natural disaster, not because of any economic downturn, but specifically because of legislation that was passed by this Congress and signed into law by this president. Now, that needs to remain the focus, but we also can't forget that for tens of millions of people more, in Pennsylvania, throughout the country, their health care costs are going up or actually going through the roof.

On the exchange, in Pennsylvania - of course all 50 states have a different name for their ACA exchange - in Pennsylvania, perhaps not very creatively, it's called Pennie. The average increase, 102 percent, average increase. So families right now that are used to paying $500 a month, come January 1st, will be paying a thousand a month. And that's just the average. For some, of course, it'll be much more. So I wanna make sure that while we focus, understandably and naturally on CBO, that we don't ascribe blame to any public servant at the Congressional Budget Office, for what this Congress has passed and the harm that it is doing to the American people.

And by the way, while I welcome very much, I think the CBO Director should testify before us every year, where is the OMB director? Where is Russ Vought? I have a list here, Mr. Chairman. Every single year going back more than 30 years, we have had the OMB Director before us. This is the Budget Committee. We have oversight over the Office of Management and Budget.

Has Russ Vought suddenly become a shrinking violet, suddenly too shy, the chief architect of Project 2025. Maybe he is ducking the oversight of this committee because he doesn't want to testify about Project 2025, doesn't wanna talk about the enormous damage that this administration has done over the last year and that he has led them doing.

So, Mr. Chairman, I want to just reiterate my strong desire, and I think the desire of everyone on this side of the dais, to have the OMB Director do what every single one of his predecessors has done, including Russ vote himself for the two years he was OMB Director in 2019 and 2020.

Shalanda Young, under the Biden administration, testified all four years. Russ Vought for the two years he was OMB Director. Mick Mulvaney. Shaun Donovan. Sylvia Burwell. Jeff Zeints. Jacob Lew. Peter Orszag. It goes on and on and on. Every single OMB Director has testified before this committee. So it is an insult to this committee and to Congress for the OMB director to keep ducking this committee and not testify before us. And I hope that we will have that hearing in short order.

Finally, and I know I'm a little over my time, I do just want to say two final things, well one final thing, about two announcements in the last week. We've had two members of this committee just announce that they'll be retiring at the end of this term, and I wanna recognize them.

First on this side of the dais, we share the same birthday. We share the same birth date - day, she is a year younger, so not the same year. But Bonnie Watson Coleman, we came in together. I can't imagine this place without you and Bonnie, you've had a distinguished career in public service. We still have a year to go, but congratulations and well deserved.

And there's one other retirement I can't remember. It can't be you 'cause you don't have, unlike me who's starting to go gray this past year working with you. Jodey, you and I have become sincere dear friends, and you know, we still have a year to go, but I know we're gonna be friends for decades to come.

And you know, three years ago, when you sat down for your first hearing as Chair, me my first hearing as Ranking Member, we both independently said that this would be a committee about serious policy work. There are performance artists in this place; this is not the committee for them. And under your leadership the last three years, and I hope I've helped on this, we've stuck to that.

And we may have disagreed strongly, and I've never resisted throwing the hardest fastball that I've got, but I know you wouldn't want it any other way. And congratulations, my friend.

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