Cut Deficit in Half and Debt Will ‘Stabilize’ in 10 Years: CBO Chief

Congressional Budget Office Director Phillip Swagel testifies before the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee during a hearing on the "Congressional Budget Office FY2021 Budget Request," in the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 12, 2020. Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

Reducing deficit spending by 50 percent, measured as a percentage of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), would stop the growth of the national debt in 10 years, says Phillip Swagel, director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

GDP is the total market value of all finished goods and services produced in the country. The deficit is the difference between what the government receives through taxes and what it spends.