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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to the press following his rally at The Angry Elephant as part of his Protecting the Texas Promise Tour, Saturday, August 8, 2026, in San Antonio. Paxton is running against James Talarico for a U.S. Senate seat.
Alma E. Hernandez/For the San Antonio Express-News In leaked audio from a private fundraiser in Washington, D.C., GOP U.S. Senate nominee Ken Paxton said he would be open to cutting federal benefits programs to chip away at the roughly $40 trillion national debt.
The Texas Tribune obtained the audio recording from a Sept. 24 meeting hosted by Susan Hirschmann and Chris Brinson of Williams & Jensen, a Washington-based lobbying firm, on Capitol Hill. Article continues below this ad Paxton, responding to a question about reducing the federal deficit, which is $1.8 trillion, said, "Making some reasonable cuts to mandatory spending — you're gonna have to do it. Or there is no solution.
That's just reality. We have to suck it up." Notably, Paxton did not specify which programs, or by how much, in the leaked audio clip. In the most recent fiscal year, most mandatory federal spending went to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, as reported by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
The rest covered aid to lower-income families, such as food benefits and unemployment insurance, and both retirement and disability benefits for federal workers and veterans. In a statement shared with the Tribune, Paxton said he would protect Social Security, citing public commitments he had made to prevent cuts. “We have to solve the national debt while keeping the promises we made to everyone who paid into these programs,” Paxton told the Tribune.
“The fake news keeps spinning the same cherry-picked audio to mislead Texans and take my words out of context. I have never said I would take away entitlements from those who deserve or earned them.” Article continues below this ad Paxton's remarks also called for tax cuts to grow the economy, along with reduced federal spending, when addressing the debt question. The American-Statesman contacted Paxton's campaign for further comment.
"Paxton has a lot of nerve telling working Americans to 'suck it up' and accept cuts to the benefits they've spent their lives earning," said Gene Lantz, President of the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans. "There is no 'reasonable' amount to cut from the Social Security checks retirees depend on to pay their bills or the Medicare benefits they need to see a doctor and get their prescriptions." Article continues below this ad “Congress is already facing a deadline to prevent devastating Social Security cuts beginning in 2032. The next U.S. senator from Texas will have to vote on whether to protect our earned benefits or cut them.
Ken Paxton's comments should alarm every retiree in Texas and across the country," Lantz added. "We cannot afford cuts to Social Security or Medicare, and we cannot trust Ken Paxton with our retirement security.” The New York Times , POLITICO and Axios all reported on comments from the same fundraiser last week. It is unclear whether there will be future leaks.
However, according to the Tribune, the person who recorded Thursday's audio declined to share Paxton's full conversation. Oct 8, 2026 | Updated Oct 8, 2026 2:00 p.m. Local News Reporter Faith Bugenhagen is a breaking and trending reporter for the Austin American-Statesman.
Before coming to Austin, Faith spent over 3 years covering the Houston area for Houston Press and Chron, writing about all things news, particularly, government and politics. She is a native Texan with a 3-year stint in Boston, Massachusetts, where she attended Emerson College.
Source: Austin American-Statesman
