Sen. Rand Paul said compromise by Republicans and Democrats will be necessary to meet the government’s debt obligations, even concerning spending issues that both parties are ardently committed to.

During a press conference Wednesday, the Kentucky Republican said spending cuts will require each party to give up its “sacred cow.”

“We have an opportunity here. It could be done. But it would take compromise between both parties,” he said. “Republicans would have to give up the sacred cow that says we will never touch a dollar in military, and the Democrats would have to give up the sacred cow that they will never touch a dollar in welfare. Everything would have to be looked across the board.”

Republicans are pushing for significant budget cuts to avoid raising the debt ceiling, which President Joe Biden has said is non-negotiable.

The nation’s debt has exceeded $31.4 billion, the debt threshold Congress agreed to in 2022.

Earlier this month, Treasury Secretary Janey Yellen warned that the U.S. government must take “extraordinary measures” to avoid going into default on its debts.

“Failure to meet the government’s obligations would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy, the livelihoods of all Americans and global financial stability. Indeed, in the past, even threats that the U.S. government might fail to meet its obligations have caused real harms, including the only credit rating downgrade in the history of our nation in 2011,” she said.

Paul said with $100 billion in cuts, the government would still be spending more than it did before the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, progress could be made if such cuts were made.

“We would balance our budget in just four years,” he said.

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