As congressional Republicans wrangle over a budget bill seeking to cut $1.6 trillion dollars in federal spending, Kentucky's U.S. Sen. Rand Paul told local elected leaders he supports the Trump administration's overall goal of a smaller federal government. But he doesn't always agree with Trump's means of achieving that.
The Trump administration and congressional Republicans want the cuts to fund increases in military and border security spending and the expansion and extension of billions of dollars in tax cuts.
Paul's Friday remarks touched on a wide array of topics, most related in some way to federal spending or economic policy. And Northern Kentucky leaders had questions about how those issues would affect their constituents.
On tariffs
Echoing concerns from Kentucky's senior Senator Mitch McConnell, Paul pushed back on Trump's tariffs. The president has instituted taxes on goods from China as high as 145%, though he's recently walked those back after trade negotiations. He's also levied high tariffs on other big U.S. trading partners.
Paul is not a fan.
"I don't think the tariffs are good for our country," he said. "And no organized business interest in Kentucky have come to me saying they're good for them. I've probably had two dozen interests from hardwood floors to bourbon to farms to car manufacturers to shippers of goods to the airlines that ship those goods all coming to me saying the tariffs aren't a good idea."
On federal workforce cuts
Paul is a long-time budget hawk who has routinely called for cuts to government spending. He emphasized he believes cuts are necessary, but he's not sure the Trump administration's high-profile job and grant eliminations — many made under the auspices of DOGE — are really making a dent in the bottom line when it comes to federal spending.
"I'm not sure he's cut anything yet," Paul said. "And here's the rub. They have cut contracts. And some employees have gone. But it's unclear the spending level changes unless we vote on it."
On cuts to federal infrastructure spending and funding for cities
Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli said his city has had a hard time finding out what's going on with the federal funds it's been promised.
"We've got some major infrastructure projects where I believe there's some challenges with the staffing in those offices," he said. "If there's no one to take our call, we're in no-man's land."
Paul said he's sympathetic to the heartburn changes to federal spending have caused municipalities in Northern Kentucky. He told elected leaders to reach out to his office if money that's been appropriated to their city isn't getting through. And he said he believes the massive $1.6 billion federal funding package the Biden administration set aside for the Brent Spence Bridge will materialize. He said he expects the bigger picture to become clearer in coming months.
"I think funding that has been allocated eventually will get done," he said. "There are some disruptions. Something as big as the Brent Spence Bridge I don't think will just stop because of this. So there is some turmoil, but I think we get beyond this. My prediction is that by fall, we get back on a much more certain footing."
This topic was one of the most interesting for local leaders. Cities like Covington and Newport rely on programs like Community Development Block Grants to fund a wide array of programs and projects. And other federal programs, like Low Income Housing Tax Credits, help nonprofit and for-profit developers build low- and moderate-income housing that the market otherwise doesn't support.
"The Community Development Block Grant money that the city of Covington receives, we use that money for down payment assistance, to help elderly people with access to their house," Covington Mayor Ron Washington said. "So we really need to understand what those funds do and how important they are for a city like this."
On social programs
Paul said changes to programs like Medicare, Social Security, and SNAP are necessary to reduce federal spending. But reducing spending for those programs has been controversial — among not only Democrats but some Republicans as well.
Paul said he wants to shift more of the cost for large-scale social programs like Medicaid to states. He'd also like to raise the age of eligibility for Social Security and Medicare. And he says he supports proposed moves to tighten work requirements for the food assistance program SNAP. Paul said some groups, like college students, generally shouldn't be on the program at all, and that the government needs to encourage people to support themselves.
"You know what the biggest problem is in our country? Too much food," Paul said. "Obesity is the biggest problem we have in our entire country. So we don't need more food. We need less food."
Changes that would make it harder to get SNAP have been controversial. Experts say the program has one of the lowest fraud rates of any government program. It accounts for less than 2% of federal spending, federal data shows. Data from the USDA shows roughly 13.5% of U.S. households experienced food insecurity last year. Local food pantries say they're seeing near-record demand as food prices rise with inflation.
On housing
Covington Mayor Washington asked Paul specifically about housing policy. Washington announced a new program this week that aims to prioritize the creation of new workforce housing.
"If we're looking for solutions, I'd be looking to you before I'd look to the federal government," Paul said. "If I were a mayor, I'd reduce difficulty in building, whether it be with zoning or regulation. I'd be wanting to let builders to build. There are probably local zoning and building regulations I'd look at."
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