White House delayed report release to hide damaging deficit numbers: Politico

As the White House presses forward with urging Congress to pass a new budget bill over objections to how it will explode the deficit, the administration is being accused of withholding a report that could have damaged their efforts.

According to a report from Politico, the White House had been dragging its feet on a forecast that shows the deficit growing and what little they had doled out has contained redactions.

The report in question is designed to forecast agricultural trade and was dated May 29, but the White House sat on it until Monday.

The reason, reports Politico's Marcia Brown, was because the administration "disliked what it said about the deficit."

According to Brown's reporting, "Policymakers, farm groups and commodities traders rely on the closely watched report, which the Agriculture Department issues quarterly, for its analysis of imports and exports of major farm commodities including cotton and livestock. The highly unusual rollout could raise questions about potential political meddling with government reports that have traditionally been trusted for decades."

According to one observer, former USDA chief economist, Joe Glauber, "Objectivity is really key here and the public depends on it... To lose that trust would be terrible.”

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