Ken Paxton Backs Benefit Cuts

Republican Texas Senate nominee Ken Paxton said the federal government must make “reasonable cuts” to mandatory spending to address the deficit. The remark appears in leaked audio from a Sept. 24 private fundraiser with Washington lobbyists, the fourth excerpt from that event to surface. Mandatory spending covers benefit programs set by law, with about three-quarters going to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the latest fiscal year. Paxton said the spending path was unsustainable and would bankrupt the country without cuts. After the audio emerged, he said he would protect Social Security, target fraud and honor promises to people who paid in. The recorder declined to release the full conversation.