Rep. Donalds to Newsmax: GOP Divide Over Mandatory Spending

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Tuesday that the real battle among Republicans on Capitol Hill over the reconciliation bill to fund President Donald Trump's agenda is over mandatory spending.

Donalds joined "Rob Schmitt Tonight" to talk about the disagreement between conservative House Republicans and Senate Republicans, which Donalds said is not about trading spending cuts to pay for Trump's tax breaks.

"There isn't disagreement on Capitol Hill when it comes to tax policy. The disagreement is how much money are we cutting in mandatory spending," Donalds told Schmitt. "And to be blunt, there are members on Capitol Hill who don't trust members of the Senate and frankly, don't trust members of leadership in order to deliver on a lot of the promises that have been made over the years up here on Capitol Hill."

Mandatory spending is federal government spending on programs that do not go through the appropriations process — Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, for example. Those three alone account for nearly 75% of mandatory spending.

"But the real thing that's happening is not a trade of more spending cuts to deliver President Trump's tax policy agenda, that's actually not the case; we're going to pass the tax policy agenda. It's about bending the cost curve in mandatory spending," Donalds said. "We are spending far too much money. Our borrowing rates are explosive here.

"That's going to crowd out private investment. It's going to crowd out individuals looking for their own loans, whether it's a house or a car, whatever the case might be," he added. "So the federal government has to control itself. As long as we cut spending, we'll have a deal and it will be done pretty quickly."

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