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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) joined Margaret Brennan on CBS’ Face the Nation and Kristen Welker on NBC’s Meet the Press.

 

On confirming President Trump’s nominees:

“We’re gonna do everything we can to ensure that he has the people he wants in place. I think you give great deference and latitude to a president when it comes to people he wants to put into key positions. The national security ones are especially important, but the Senate has a role – advice and consent – and we intend, we have a lot of our senators who take that role very seriously. So we will make sure that these nominees have a process, a fair process, in which they have an opportunity to make their cases, not only to the members of the committee, and ultimately to the full Senate, but also to the American people. And that’s underway as we speak. But my hope and expectation is that the president will get the people that he wants in place to implement his agenda.”

“[M]y expectation is, and as the leader of the Senate, that we’re going to get the president his people as quickly as possible in the key positions where he wants them.”

 

On securing the southern border:

“[A]s we think about what those next steps are, the first thing is securing that border and making sure that we change the incentive structure so people aren’t incentivized to come here illegally, which they have been for the past four years. And then we do everything to ensure that the border personnel, the ICE agents and border agents, have the resources that they need to do their job. Now, some of that means physical barriers, some of that means technical, technological barriers, etc., and those are all going to require resources. And then some is going to require deportation of certain people who are here illegally.”

“We think that a generational investment in the border is necessary, given where we are after the last four years of a, what I think is a very failed Biden-Harris border policy.”

“[I] would argue that when the president takes office, and he’s going to do a lot of things on the border by executive order, by executive action, that we’re going to need to be able to provide the resources in order for him to do that. And that’s why I’ve suggested that we take that border issue on right away and enable him to do the things that he needs to do.”

 

On the need to shore up defense capabilities:

“I think we are dramatically underfunding our military today; I think the president believes that, President Trump, and I think a lot of our Republican colleagues in the House and the Senate share that view. So, can we do this through reconciliation? We’re obviously looking at our options.”

“I also think we have some immediate concerns, matters that need to be addressed – one of which is national security, given the increasingly dangerous world in which we live.”

 

On pro-growth tax policies:

“[W]e intend to ensure that we don’t have a $4 trillion tax increase on the American people by December 31 of this year. And in order to do that, we’ve got to act collectively – House, Senate, and White House – to extend the 2017 tax cuts. Now, in doing that, I believe there will also be a robust conversation about whether we can find offsets and achieve reductions in spending that would help offset some of that. But then also, you’ve got to understand, too, that tax policy is directly connected to economic growth, and we’ve been told by all the experts – the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Congressional Budget Office – that for every 1 percent increase in GDP, you generate about $3 trillion in additional tax revenue. Many of the tax provisions that are in law today, that will be extended, will have a very positive impact on the growth of the economy. I’m somebody who believes in growth. With growth, you get better-paying jobs, but you also generate more tax revenue. And I think that’s something that isn’t fully contemplated or considered when people talk about deficit numbers.”

“[I]f you want to avoid a $4 trillion tax increase, you’re going to have to take some steps to extend the current tax policy. When you do that, I think you get outcomes that are good for the economy. When the economy is growing, expanding, and creating better-paying jobs, people are making money, they’re taking realizations, they’re paying taxes, tax revenues go up, and that was demonstrated and proven in 2017 with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”

“We’re going to have a very robust conversation about tax reform. I was a big part of it back in 2017 when we did the initial Trump tax cuts, and this time around, there’s a lot riding on it. There’s a lot riding on it economically. I think regulatory policy, tax policy, energy policy, are going to be really essential to the strength of the economy and how fast we can grow and expand and create better-paying jobs in this country. So I’m a big believer in pro-growth tax policy. I believe you get a lot of that back through growth in additional revenue … Every 1 percent increase in GDP, in economic growth, we’re told, generates about $3 trillion in additional tax revenue. So you’re going to get some back in terms of the growth dividend, and there will be spending cuts.”