Brown backs balanced budget amendment and cutting trillions in federal spending

Brown has fundraised twice as much as the other 10 Republicans in his primary race combined. (Photo: Sam Brown campaign)

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GOP Senate candidate Sam Brown would support cutting federal spending by at least 1% annually in order to balance the federal budget, according to previously unreported audio clips obtained by the Current of him on the campaign trail.

“We have to reduce spending at some sort of percentage,” Brown said at a Sierra Nevada Republican Women’s luncheon in February. “(Sen.) Rand Paul’s done a lot of studying on this in the past. He used to say if we reduce spending by 1% a year for several years we can get back to a much healthier spot.”

Brown continued, “I haven’t heard an update on all that with all the spending we’ve had in the last 24 months, but I think that’s a very reasonable place to start. Just saying, ‘Hey, let’s have all the agencies and departments start to tighten their belts across the board.’”

Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, since 2018 has proposed a “Penny Plan” that would mandate trillions of dollars in cuts to federal agencies and programs over five years in order to balance the budget. In 2022, Paul introduced a “Six Penny Plan,” which would cut 6 cents for every dollar of spending, reflecting the increase in national debt since the introduction of his first Penny Plan.

Brown in the audio adds, “We could also get back to something called zero-based budgeting. A balanced budget amendment is also something I would support.”

Conservatives have long proposed a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution to limit federal appropriations by Congress to estimated federal revenues for each fiscal year, except in times of national emergency. As recently as this year, state lawmakers across the country have passed or pitched resolutions calling for a national convention to consider such an amendment.

Democrats argue balanced budget proposals are designed to cut funding or end entirely social programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

When asked by the Current to elaborate on his political positions regarding a balanced budget amendment or national debt and the potential cuts those policies could lead to for widely used federal programs, Brown’s campaign sent a statement that “like President Trump” he “will not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.”

The full statement, which the campaign has sent to other media outlets previously, continued: “Taxpayers know the federal government has a terrible track record of exorbitant spending and poorly allocating resources. It’s why, through the failed leadership of Jacky Rosen and Joe Biden, the country is $34 trillion in debt and the cost of living is at an all-time high. As a small business owner, I look at all budgets with an eye toward cost savings and raising revenue. Nevada deserves a leader who takes every opportunity to give the taxpayer relief where it is prudent and stands up to bloated bureaucracy. An easy place to start is trimming the excessive waste within federal departments.”

Economists have largely panned a balanced budget amendment, calling it unsound fiscal policy and noting that the limit it sets is arbitrary.

Brown has explicitly expressed support for a balanced budget amendment previously.

“Congress must get back to a place where we bring fiscal accountability,” he said at a Boulder City Republican Women’s luncheon in November, the audio of which the Current also obtained. “I would love to see a balanced budget amendment get passed. I would push for a balanced budget amendment.”

In 2022, when he was running against Adam Laxalt for the GOP Senate race nomination, Brown said he wanted to cut federal funding by eliminating entire federal departments, including the U.S. Departments of Transportation, Education and Energy.

This year’s U.S. Senate race between Brown and Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen is expected to help determine which political party controls Congress, and depending on the outcome of the presidential race, brings the potential for a major shift in fiscal policy for the country.

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