Congress demands CBO show its math on every budget estimate
H.R. 724 — CBO Show Your Work Act · Filed by Warren Davidson (R-OH) · 35 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 24, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to publish the mathematical models, data, assumptions, and computational details behind its cost estimates for legislation—so that Members of Congress and the public can see how the CBO reached its numbers and verify them independently. For data the CBO is legally barred from releasing, it must publish descriptive statistics, variable lists, and contact information for accessing the full data.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a transparency requirement—it mandates public disclosure of CBO models and computational data. It does not change CBO's scoring methodology, budget authority, or substantive powers; it only requires the CBO to show its work.
What the text implies
- CBO may face resource constraints in preparing and maintaining public-facing models and documentation, potentially delaying estimate production during the 6-month implementation window.
- Disclosure of proprietary or sensitive data-preparation routines could expose CBO methodologies to external criticism or political pressure, though the bill includes a carve-out for legally protected data.
- Legislators and advocacy groups may use published models to generate competing cost estimates, fragmenting the authoritative baseline for budget debate—potentially increasing legislative friction but also enabling more informed challenge to CBO assumptions.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Transparency into how the CBO scores legislation strengthens democratic accountability by allowing citizens, legislators, and independent analysts to verify the reasoning behind cost estimates that drive budget decisions. This reduces the risk of opaque or unexamined assumptions driving major fiscal policy.
Named in the bill
Congressional Budget Office (CBO), House Committee on the Budget, Congressional Budget Act of 1974, Section 402
Where it stands
35 cosponsors: 35 Republicans.
- Jan 24, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 24, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Budget · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Budget”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,995 characters) on Aug 20, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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