Republicans and Congressional Budget Office

Doug Elmendorf: In practical terms, GOP leaders had to pick their accountant, according to MSNBC. Doug Elmendorf term as head of the Congressional Budget Office was nearly over, and Republicans were under pressure to reappoint him to another term. It wasn’t one of their high-profile choices – whether or not to shut down the government, whether or not to sabotage American foreign policy, etc. – but it nevertheless mattered quite a bit. The recommendations made sense – Elmendorf developed a reputation as a respected, impartial economist, who was pretty effective in telling lawmakers – and by extension, all of us – how much stuff costs. Soon after, right on cue, Republicans showed Elmendorf the door, and introduced Keith Hall, a Republican stalwart, as the new CBO chief. As we talked about late last year, the argument from mainstream conservatives was that Elmendorf could extend meaningful credibility to GOP proposals through favorable scores – if Elmendorf said Republicans’ numbers add up, everyone would know GOP lawmakers were taking their responsibilities seriously. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.