White House Deputy Press Secretary Slams ‘Flawed Reporting’ Over Spending Bill

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates slammed on Tuesday what he called “flawed reporting” related to the Build Back Better social spending bill.

During a press gaggle aboard Air Force One on the way to New Hampshire, where President Joe Biden will tout the bipartisan infrastructure bill he signed on Monday into law, Bloomberg White House reporter Jennifer Epstein asked a question about the Congressional Budget Office scoring the bill – a prerequisite for many moderate House Democrats in deciding whether to support the $1.75 trillion bill.

“We’re expecting the CBO score on tax revenue in the next couple days and that seems to be an area where the administration is already anticipating that it may not be a favorable number as you all have projected,” she said. “How are you planning to deal with some of the moderate Democrats who are waiting for the CBO score? Do you think that they will be persuaded that they should ignore the CBO saying that was the holdup for them to even vote with to begin with a couple weeks back?”

Epstein then asked if the White House is confident that Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) will join the 48 other Democrats in the Senate to pass the social spending bill. The two senators have expressed reservations about the legislation ranging from cost to tax revenues.

Bates first answered Epstein’s second question by reiterating Biden’s belief that he’ll get all Senate Democrats on board.

Regarding Epstein’s first question, Bates said, “I appreciate you raising that because there was a flawed report about this yesterday. As reporters who’ve been closely tracking the negotiations for months pointed out last night after some of that flawed reporting, there has been wide agreement on the part of everyone involved – moderates, liberals, etc… – that CBO does not have experience analyzing revenue amounts gained from cracking down on wealthy tax cheats who are taking advantage of every honest taxpayer.”

It is unclear which report Bates was referring to, however, The New York Times published on Monday a story with this headline: “Biden’s reliance on I.R.S. enforcement to pay for $1.85 trillion bill hits a snag.”

CBO said on Monday that it will release its score of the bill on Friday.

Listen above, relevant portion begins at 1:13:40.