The Treasury Department’s independent watchdog has cleared staffers of exerting any improper political influence on the analysis of the Republican tax overhaul, according to The New York Times.

The department's inspector general launched the investigation after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Steven Terner MnuchinLawmakers fear voter backlash over failure to reach COVID-19 relief deal United Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid House Democrats plan to unveil bill next week to avert shutdown MORE faced intense criticism over the scoring of the GOP tax plan.

Mnuchin and Republican leaders insisted their bill to slash corporate and personal income taxes would boost economic growth enough to pay down the federal debt. The secretary promised an extensive Treasury analysis of the bill that would prove its benefits before Congress voted on the plan.

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Economists across the political spectrum, including those who supported the plan, said those predictions were too optimistic.

Treasury career staffers, meant to be insulated from political pressure, had for decades provided extensive nonpartisan analyses of major fiscal legislation. The lack of a thorough scoring of the tax bill before the Senate voted on the plan, despite Mnuchin’s claims, enraged critics of the tax plan.

Treasury released a brief one-page analysis of the plan on Dec. 11, claiming the proposal would increase tax revenue by about $1.8 trillion over 10 years.

The analysis predicted the bill would generate a 2.9-percent growth rate, as projected in Trump's fiscal 2018 budget, compared to previous projections of 2.2 percent growth in gross domestic product.

Sens. Ron Wyden Ronald (Ron) Lee WydenGOP senator blocks Schumer resolution aimed at Biden probe as tensions run high Republican Senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal Hillicon Valley: TikTok, Oracle seek Trump's approval as clock winds down | Hackers arrested for allegedly defacing U.S. websites after death of Iranian general | 400K people register to vote on Snapchat MORE (D-Ore.) and Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenBiden's fiscal program: What is the likely market impact? Warren, Schumer introduce plan for next president to cancel ,000 in student debt The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - Don't expect a government check anytime soon MORE (D-Mass.) asked the Treasury inspector general to probe whether department employees were pressured to fudge the numbers in their analysis.

Congress's nonpartisan tax scorekeeper, the Joint Committee on Taxation, predicted that the bill as written then would have added about $1.4 trillion to the deficit over 10 years before accounting for economic growth and about $1 trillion to the deficit after taking growth into account.