(Alexandria, VA) – During his first two Congresses, 2016 Presidential Candidate Senator Rand Paul (R – KY) proposed savings agendas that would cut $483.8 billion per year, on average, from the federal budget – topping the list of largest net cutters in the Senate during the 112th Congress – according to National Taxpayers Union Foundation’s (NTUF’s) new analysis.
Paul’s agenda amounts to a $2.7 billion cut in spending for every dollar increase. NTUF’s data for Senator Paul is from the 112th and 113th Congresses.
“Senator Paul’s $650 billion cut agenda from his first term was one of largest savings agendas we’ve ever recorded,” said NTUF Director of Research Demian Brady. “His record clearly demonstrates an approach to budget discipline that can be matched by few.”
Highlights from NTUF’s analysis:
- Senator Paul has sponsored legislation that would save a net average of $483.8 billion in federal spending per year. He would cut $2.7 billion on average for every dollar in spending increases he supported.
- In the 112th Congress, Paul sponsored an agenda that would cut over $650 billion annually on average – the most in the entire Senate.
- Paul’s agenda consisted of substantially deeper spending cuts than the Republican average of $198.9 billion in budget reductions during the period NTUF analyzed.
- The One Percent Spending Reduction Act, which Senator Paul cosponsored in the 113th Congress, would have reduced federal spending by $261 billion over two years, more than any other bill that Paul has supported.
- Senator Paul has been an outspoken proponent of legislation that would require a full audit of the Federal Reserve. That bill would require $3 million in new spending per year.
- The most expensive legislation Senator Paul supported was S. 729 in the 113th Congress, at a cost of $10 million per year. That bill would have established a task force in the Department of Justice to prosecute convicted felons attempting to buy firearms.
Other NTUF analyses found Senator Bernie Sanders proposed an average of over $1 trillion in annual spending during his Senate tenure, while Hillary Clinton proposed $226 billion in new spending, and Senator Marco Rubio offered $330 billion in cuts.
National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF) is the research and education arm of National Taxpayers Union, “The Voice of America’s Taxpayers.” For more information visit ntu.org/foundation.