John Cornyn, a Republican senator from Texas, said the U.S. needed to examine where it could reduce mandatory government spending to deal with its debt.
Cornyn, a candidate to become the next Republican leader in the Senate, suggested The Hill that the party must also examine tax loopholes that could be closed if Republican candidate Donald Trump returns to power and the Republicans gain control of the upper house of parliament.
“We’ve tried to get a handle on spending by looking only at discretionary spending. In fact, discretionary spending hasn’t increased nearly as much as mandatory spending,” Cornyn was quoted as saying by the publication. “Given that President Trump and President Biden have said they don’t want to touch Medicare or Social Security… I think it’s worth taking a look at other mandatory spending.”
“We also have to look at the tax code. I think the last number I saw was about $1.8 trillion in tax spending. Some of that is legitimate deductions and things like that, but some of it is subsidies, transfer payments and basically social programs.”
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Newsweek reached Cornyn’s office via email on Tuesday for comment.
The senator from Texas has been an advocate of tax cuts in the past.
“The key to a prosperous economy is cutting the high taxes on Americans and businesses that have held back their economic growth,” the policy statement on his website states. “Tax relief will allow American businesses to innovate and create jobs, and will allow American families to keep more of their income.”
Cornyn had previously suggested that the government should consider reducing its spending.
“By eliminating excessive spending and increasing economic activity over time, we can reduce the current budget deficit,” Cornyn’s Senate website says.
Trump, the Republican candidate for the White House, has indicated that he wants to cut taxes if elected in November.
“President Trump’s vision for America’s economic recovery is lower taxes,” his campaign website states.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Trump said he had cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent during his presidency. He told the network he wanted to cut it even further, to 15 percent.
“But I would like to lower it to 15 if possible, because that would be the absolute lowest stimulus for us,” Trump said, according to Bloomberg.
