On Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) revealed it had fallen victim to a cyber attack, and steps were underway to mitigate its effects.

Caitlin Emma, a spokesperson for the CBO, stated, “The Congressional Budget Office has detected the security breach, promptly acted to contain it, and has reinforced its systems with enhanced monitoring and new security measures to safeguard the agency’s infrastructure moving forward.”

“The matter is under investigation, but our work for Congress continues uninterrupted. Similar to other government bodies and private organizations, the CBO occasionally encounters network threats and remains vigilant in addressing them,” she added.

This announcement came after The Washington Post reported suspicions that a foreign entity might be responsible for the breach, potentially compromising communications between lawmakers and nonpartisan staff.

The CBO plays a crucial role in assessing the financial implications of proposed legislation, including evaluating how bills might affect the national debt.

According to the Post, the hackers may have accessed emails as well as chat logs at the CBO.

The news comes after the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) told reporters in September that at least one government agency had been hacked, issuing an emergency directive noting the “alarming ease with which a threat actor can exploit” vulnerabilities in Cisco software.

A second emergency directive was issued last month, warning of a “nation-state affiliated cyber threat actor” accessing federal networks using F5 devices and software.

CBO typically garners little attention, and is relied on by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle when crafting legislation.

But the agency was criticized by Republicans during the formulation of President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, when CBO determined the legislation would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the course of a decade.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) complained in June that he was “not buying the CBO’s estimates,” while Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) referred to its personnel as “bean counters” who were failing to account for economic growth.

Updated at 5:22 p.m. EST