House GOP challenges CBO's analysis of work requirements in debt ceiling bill

House Republicans defended their broadening of work requirements for safety net programs in the debt ceiling bill on Wednesday, saying it would help people escape poverty and assist employers looking to hire.

In a call with reporters, the representatives also challenged the Congressional Budget Office's analysis of the package, released Tuesday, that showed enrollment in the food stamps program would increase by 78,000 people in an average month when fully implemented, as well as grow spending by $2.1 billion over the decade.

Under the package, able-bodied adults without dependents who are ages 18 through 54 could get food stamps for only three months out of every three years unless they are employed at least 20 hours a week or meet other criteria until 2030. Currently, that mandate applies to those ages 18 through 49.

But veterans, people experiencing homelessness and former foster youth of all ages would be exempt under the debt ceiling bill. The legislation would also tighten the share of unused exemptions states can carry over from year to year.

"What we know unimpeachably from the bulk of the evidence is that work requirements, when properly deployed, absolutely help people escape poverty and grow the economy," said GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, who authored a more stringent bill earlier this year to increase work mandates in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, the formal name for food stamps.

Advocates for lower-income Americans, however, say that many people receiving government benefits are already employed. And they point to multiple studies that show work requirements don't really help additional people find jobs or increase their income, but instead strip them of much-needed aid.

Johnson also argued that the GOP's insistence on beefing up work requirements is not about slashing government programs.