Looks like Trump is refusing to release economic projections.
Highlights from The Washington Post article (which is behind a paywall)
Highlights from The Washington Post article (which is behind a paywall)
The White House is supposed to unveil a federal budget proposal every February and then provides a “mid-session review” in July or August with updated projections on economic trends such as unemployment, inflation and economic growth.
Two White House officials confirmed the decision had been made not to include the economic projections as part of the mid-session release. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said that the novel coronavirus is causing extreme volatility in the U.S. economy, making it difficult to model economic trends.
“It gets them off the hook for having to say what the economic outlook looks like,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office who served as an economic adviser to the late senator John McCain (R-Ariz.).
Both liberal and conservative critics said the White House should publish its economic projections in line with the precedent set by prior administrations, regardless of the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. The White House under President Barack Obama continued to release these numbers during the Great Recession, although they were unflattering.
“There is no logistical reason they couldn’t do it,” said Bill Hoagland, senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center and former Republican staff director for the Senate Budget Committee. “It seems more likely they do not want to bring attention to the high level of unemployment they’d have to project for this year, and into next year.”
Critics say the White House is not confronting the extent of the economic damage facing the nation. The administration has largely broken off negotiations with Congress on an additional stimulus package, although many economists say additional stimulus is necessary.