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DSA leader dismisses $49T cost estimate for socialist policies as a ‘made-up number’
Democratic Socialists of America co-chair Megan Romer rejected a White House estimate that the group’s policy proposals would cost $49 trillion, calling it a “made-up number”. The exchange followed electoral gains by DSA-backed candidates and focused on how their plans, including universal healthcare and student debt cancellation, would be funded.
Romer did not provide her own total, saying costs would depend on which programmes were introduced and which existing ones were phased out. The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimated the proposals would cost about $355,000 per US household over ten years; during the interview, anchor Martha MacCallum cited a separate estimate of $47 trillion and compared it with a $961 billion US defence budget. Romer argued that military spending should be redirected to social priorities.
In short
- Romer called the $49 trillion estimate “made up”.
- She offered no alternative cost figure.
- The White House estimate is about $355,000 per household over ten years.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The White House estimate can be defended as an attempt to quantify the scale of the proposals and make their potential tax and borrowing implications visible to voters. Even if the precise total depends on policy details, a large estimate may prompt useful scrutiny of affordability, trade-offs and how much households could ultimately pay.
The case against
Romer’s objection can be defended on the grounds that a single headline figure may rely on assumptions about which programmes are included, how they are designed and what existing spending they replace. Without a detailed, comparable costing of specific proposals and funding sources, the estimate may give a misleading impression of their net cost; she also argues that defence spending could be redirected towards social programmes.
Explained simply
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a US political organisation that supports a larger role for government in providing services and reducing economic inequality. It backs policies such as universal healthcare and cancelling some student debt, and some candidates it supports have recently won elections.
The cost of such plans depends on what is included, how they are introduced and whether existing programmes are replaced. The White House Council of Economic Advisers has published an estimate, while DSA co-chair Megan Romer says there is no single total without those details.
The debate matters because it concerns how the US should pay for public services and set spending priorities. Romer has argued that some money spent on the military could instead go towards social programmes.