Washington — Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) unveiled his five-year budget plan on Thursday. Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) and Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) joined Paul at the press conference. Paul’s package axes four federal departments: Commerce, Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Energy. It also repeals Obamacare and requires entitlement form to be implemented by 2016. If enacted, according to Paul’s office, it will reduce federal spending by nearly $4 trillion relative to President Obama’s budget.
“We think that there needs to be an alternative,” Paul said. “While official Washington is sitting on their hands and ignoring the ever-expanding deficit, I am offering a real plan to rein in spending and address the looming debt crisis.” DeMint added: “We can’t balance the budget just by cutting things at the federal level. We have to balance the budget by letting things go. You’ll see that in his budget as you get into the details. There are functions and departments, here at the federal level, that need to be devolved to the states.”
The freshman Republican is quickly establishing himself as a leading fiscal hawk. Paul’s latest proposal comes weeks after he outlined $500 billion in spending cuts. Earlier this week, Paul sought $200 billion in cuts via an amendment to a Senate small-business bill. A Paul aide told The Hill that the senator is “not abandoning” the $500 billion plan. Instead, the aide said, Paul wants to bring various cuts to the floor to “engage interest” and “see how much people are willing to cut.”