Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz wants to pump the breaks on Congress’ spending spree, noting Friday that the nation “cannot spend our way” out of the coronavirus crisis.
Cruz told Fox Business host Stuart Varney that he would not support a Phase 4 stimulus package after having previously supporting three stimulus bills. (RELATED: Senate Approves $484 Billion Coronavirus Phase 3.5 Bill)
“We have spent more than enough money. We cannot spend our way out of this,” Cruz said. “We’ve spent now nearly $3 trillion. We’ve spent 15% of our total national debt, enough is enough is enough.”
The senator added that Congress should focus next on restarting the economy and making sure businesses devastated by the virus can reopen their doors. (RELATED: Ted Cruz Gifted Case Of Corona During Coronavirus Quarantine)
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“We need to give this money some time to be spent, but more fundamentally, we need to restart the economy,” Cruz said. “We are expected to be back in session in two weeks. When we come back, what I think we ought to focus on is not yet another relief and spending bill, which seems to be what Nancy Pelosi wants to do, but instead a recovery bill. A bill that is designed to help small businesses that are finally reopening their doors.”
Cruz’s comments follow a report from the Daily Caller that said Cruz has been urging his colleagues to slow down the spending.
“Cruz urged members to push pause on the spending and stop Nancy Pelosi from driving the discussion. He said Congress should not be bailing out fiscally irresponsible states on the backs of taxpayers in more fiscally prudent states, but supported providing additional flexibility for states to use funds they’ve already received on law enforcement,” a Senate aide told the Caller earlier this week.