Pence-led group offers blueprint to cut spending as national debt hits $35T

An advocacy group led by former Vice President Mike Pence is urging lawmakers to consider a laundry list of spending reforms to confront the growing national debt.

Advancing American Freedom, in an 8-page document obtained by The Hill, issued what it called a “guide to cutting federal spending,” a three-step plan that comes as the national debt recently surpassed $35 trillion.

“After decades of ignoring the significance of profligate federal spending, the consequences are finally starting to catch up to us,” the document states. “As has been the case, the problem is not a lack of revenue, but rather a lack of willingness to make hard choices to rein in spending and have the courage to say ‘no’ to wasteful programs.”

The first part of Advancing American Freedom’s proposal addresses reducing mandatory spending by laying out suggested reforms to programs like Social Security and Medicare.

Among the solutions put forward in the document are reducing waste, applying additional work requirements for those who are using Medicaid, creating a congressional commission to study potential cuts, and means-testing cost of living increases for Social Security recipients so that those making more than $1 million don’t receive an annual increase.

The second aspect of the group’s blueprint is to eliminate tax expenditures. The document specifically calls for rolling back various clean energy tax breaks that are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, legislation passed with only Democratic votes in 2022. 

It also suggests repealing the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction, which allows residents of high-tax states to write off the first $10,000 of state and local taxes paid from their federal taxable income. Many Republicans oppose increasing the SALT cap, which was set in the Trump-era Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, arguing it incentivizes Democratic-run states to set higher taxes.

The third part of the organization’s proposal focuses on discretionary spending cuts. It calls for an end to “shutdown theatrics,” arguing brinksmanship only encourages bad spending deals. It also calls for an end to earmarks, a freeze in non-defense spending and the elimination of the Environmental Protection Agency, arguing the government could save billions by relocating its services.

“Advancing American Freedom believes it is critical to name and explain specific spending cuts,” The document concludes. “We will continue to lead the way by identifying credible ways to reduce U.S. debt. The next step is for politicians to match their actions with their rhetoric. 2025 will provide a golden opportunity.”

The document published Tuesday comes after Pence spent much of his unsuccessful 2024 presidential bid calling for “common sense” reforms to entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security, warning that doing nothing would be unsustainable.

That position broke with former President Trump, who coasted to the nomination and vowed he would not touch Social Security despite his White House budget proposals repeatedly putting forward cuts.

Pence’s advocacy group has remained active this year ahead of the November elections. The organization has said it will invest $20 million this year to shape the conservative agenda, an effort to directly counter what Pence had previously described as populism “unmoored to conservative principles.”