Sunflower State News

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas appeared on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper to discuss the recent rescissions package and address concerns about federal spending and national debt.

During the interview, Senator Marshall highlighted the scale of the national debt, stating, “I think the biggest problem that this country faces is our $37 trillion national debt, that we’re spending a trillion dollars a year on interest. If you think about where these cuts are coming from, USAID, our own Government Accounting Office, our own Inspector General have said that USAID is the systemic risk. That there’s significant fraud, waste, and abuse going on. That they don’t really have an audit system.

“So we have identified with Congressional review significant waste and fraud. Think about USAID. Just recently, a $500 million fraud scheme of bribes [uncovered] here in this country, overseeing those programs. In New Guinea $100 million embezzlement issue, or $50 million of waste on medical equipment in Zambia. So the fraud, the waste, the abuse, is out there. We need to do something. And this is some, I would say, low-hanging fruit. I wish we had a bigger rescission package.”

Marshall also commented on Congressional spending practices: “Well, certainly Congress has a spending problem, and we need to address that. But I think that we want to be frugal with our money. I was taught to be frugal, to be concerned with other people’s money, which is what this is, and to take the very best care of it that I can.

“I don’t care how much debt we’re in or even if we had a surplus, I don’t want to see waste and fraud like we’ve been seeing through USAID. I do think that both parties need to do a better job of working towards a balanced budget. Again, our national debt is the biggest problem our country faces long term.”

The senator’s remarks come as lawmakers debate strategies for reducing government expenditures amid rising concerns over fiscal responsibility.