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By Omar Mohammed
Reporter, Economy & Finance
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John Cornyn, a Republican senator from Texas, suggested the U.S. needs to take a look at where it can reduce mandatory government spending as a way to deal with its debt.
Cornyn, a contender to become the next Republican leader in the Senate, suggested to The Hill that the party will also need to examine tax loopholes that could be closed should GOP nominee Donald Trump regain power and the Republicans win control of the upper legislative chamber.
"We've tried to deal with spending, just looking at discretionary spending. Actually, discretionary spending has not jumped up nearly as much as mandatory," Cornyn was quoted as saying by the publication. "Given President Trump and President Biden have said they don't want to touch either Medicare or Social Security ... I think it's worth looking at other mandatory spending.
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"We also need to look at the tax code. I think the latest number I saw is about $1.8 trillion in tax expenditures. Some of them are legitimate deductions and things like that but some of them are subsidies, transfer payments and basically welfare programs."
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Newsweek contacted Cornyn's office for comment via email on Tuesday.
The Texas senator has in the past been an advocate of cutting taxes.
"The key to a prosperous economy is reducing the high level of taxation on Americans and businesses that has stunted their economic growth," the policy position on his website reads. "Tax relief will allow American businesses to innovate and create jobs, and allow American families to keep more of what they earn."
Cornyn has also previously suggested that the government should think about reducing its spending.
"By eliminating excessive spending and increasing economic activity over time, we can reduce the current budget deficit," Cornyn's senate website noted.
Trump, the Republican nominee for the White House, has suggested that he wants to reduce taxes should he be elected in November.
"President Trump's vision for America's economic revival is lower taxes," his campaign website points out.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Trump said that while president he cut the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent. He told the outlet that he wants to reduce that further, to 15 percent.
"But I would like to get it down to 15, if we could, because that would put us in the absolute lowest in terms of incentive," Trump said, according to Bloomberg.
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