Chairman Arrington Talks Reconciliation, Economy on Face the Nation and The Hill Sunday
WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) joined CBS News’ Face the Nation and The Hill Sunday on NewsNation urging the U.S. Senate to advance the House-passed budget resolution, which would unlock the reconciliation process.
Watch Chairman Arrington's full interview with Major Garrett on CBS News HERE.
Find highlights of key moments below.
Chairman Arrington on Reducing Bloated Federal Spending:
“I think we should count on reducing spending. That is runaway, bankrupting levels of spending: $2 trillion in annual deficits that will double in the next 10 years. Half of that $2 trillion is interest on the debt that will more than double in the next 10 years. So, we have a spending problem. That deficit spending is driving World War levels of debt and will bankrupt the country. So, I think we should offset the tax cuts with spending reductions and bend that debt-to-GDP. The revenue from tariffs could do two things: accelerate the reduction of deficit-to-GDP and do what the President has said he wants to happen in this America First agenda—put our nation on a path to balance—but it can also provide tariff relief, like he did in the first administration for farmers in West Texas…I think we’ve got to bring down spending. If we don’t, then I don’t know how much longer we have before, as Ray Dalio says, we’re going to have an ‘economic heart attack,’ and it will undermine everything.”
Chairman Arrington on the Economy:
“You’ve got the tariffs, which I think are critical for our long-term prosperity to have that reset, have that fair, reciprocal trade dynamic that doesn’t exist today. So, transitioning from the last four years to a new administration with a new economic policy agenda is going to have some adjustments that go with it. But I think at the end of the day, you’re going to have better prospects for growth. You’re going to bring down the prices, and you’re going to have better prospects for our future, including reducing the debt-to-GDP, which, as the Budget Chairman, I can tell you, is completely unsustainable at this point and could bankrupt our country.”
Watch Chairman Arrington’s full interview with Chris Stirewalt on NewsNation HERE.
Find highlights of key moments below.
Chairman Arrington on the House-Passed Budget Resolution:
“You have to strike a balance so that everybody has to grab a hold of the rope and pull our country back from the precipice of a debt crisis and to restore fiscal health, which means we have to incentivize investment and growth. That’s where the tax cuts come in, reining-in regulation, opening up domestic energy production…We have a bunch of waste and woke and bloat, and we’ve got to start pulling that down so that we can have better and brighter days ahead of us, both economically [and] from a security perspective, and for our children’s future and global leadership. That’s what’s at stake, and we did that in a balanced way in our resolution - offsetting the cost of tax cuts by reducing spending at almost $2 trillion and bringing that debt-to-GDP down. That’s what the Senate ought to do. We’ve cut the path for them. They should follow suit.”
Chairman Arrington on Extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:
“The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that we’re talking about extending or making permanent actually increased the share of taxes paid by the top one percent. It’s the people on the lower income spectrum, it is the families in the middle that saw the highest gains. In fact, they saw two times the gains in wages, three times the gains in wealth, and we lifted six million people out of poverty.
“So, I would just suggest that we ought to lower the tax burden for everybody. All boats rise on the tide of prosperity. And we had record investment, record R&D, and we had record job growth as a result. And we’ve got to get off of economic high center, avoid a recession, [and] bring down the cost of living. So, the tax cuts are a cornerstone of the economic agenda, and if we don’t act, we’re going to have a 22 percent tax hike on every American. That’s not sustainable now or at any time. So, we’ve got to be responsible to extend these but offset them with reduction in spending so that we don’t ship the tax burden to our children, because that’s what the deficit and debt is: a deferred tax on our children.”
Chairman Arrington on the Current Policy Baseline:
“So, if the Senate is simply using current policy to get tax cuts permanent while avoiding or skirting the responsibility to bring down spending commensurately, then that’s a non-starter…So, you have to have a balanced budget resolution approach like we did in the House…Let’s do solid economic policy, good fiscal policy, and ensure our country and our children’s future is solid.”
MORE FROM THE HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE
Read Chairman Arrington’s joint statement with U.S. House leadership and all instructed committee chairs urging the Senate to take up the House’s Trump-endorsed budget resolution HERE.
Read more about House Republicans’ briefing with Ray Dalio HERE.
