Chairman Jodey Arrington of the House Budget Committee appeared on Fox Business’s “Mornings with Maria” to discuss a recent meeting with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The discussion focused on economic reforms, tax relief, and fiscal policy under the Trump Administration.
Arrington highlighted the Secretary’s acknowledgment of committee members’ efforts to manage government spending. He said, "It was a great meeting. The Secretary was kind to applaud the work of a lot of budget hawks that were pushing to bend that curve on spending, which has the benefits of strengthening the economy, putting downward pressure on interest rates and prices and actually looks into the future to make sure that we're not just doing well by the voters of today, but our children and grandchildren into the future."
He noted improvements in fiscal indicators: "Which is why we all celebrated that the deficit to GDP has gone down for the first time in a decade if you control for COVID and why the bond markets are responding. That's a key indicator. They have confidence in our fiscal constraint and our plan for growing the economy. So, all things very positive there."
Arrington also discussed policy impacts from what he called “the Big Beautiful Bill,” stating, "And we talked about the progress made from the pro-growth, pro-energy, pro-work policies of the Big Beautiful Bill. Prices are coming down along with interest rates, both short and long-term. Real wages are going up, business investment going up. And of course, in the [next] calendar year, you'll have the largest refund checks, and according to Piper Sandler, about $200 billion in tax relief for reduced withholdings, more money in people's pockets in their bank accounts. Everything is looking good, and it's only building momentum month by month."
On addressing national debt reduction and improving America’s financial position, Arrington referenced past administration policies: "I think what happened with the Trump policies in the first term is, not only did we have record investment and job growth, but we had record wage and income increases. I think that's the best way to put money in people's pockets— trust our good pro-growth policies and get good fundamentals in the economy. And look, we have record revenue coming in from tariffs that is helping our fiscal prospects. That's helping the economy, but it's also strengthening the health of America's balance sheet."
He emphasized continued debt reduction as essential: "What we ought to do is keep paying down the debt. The dividend check should be to our children and grandchildren as restitution for the intergenerational theft for all these years and the $38 trillion and counting in debt that's completely unsustainable.
Maria, that is the right way to do it and it will have benefits again of downward pressure on prices and strengthening economy because it will stop crowding out so much private capital on account of almost $2 trillion in annual borrowing."
