Utah Sen. John Curtis sat down with CNN anchor Manu Raju on “Inside Politics Sunday,” where he discussed the need to bring down the debt and his thoughts on the tariffs levied by President Donald Trump.
Curtis spoke to Raju just after his first Senate floor speech on Wednesday, where he said lawmakers need to tell the truth about the need to reform Social Security and Medicare.
Sen. John Curtis on the ‘big, beautiful bill’ and the need to be honest about reforming entitlements
Curtis told Raju Washington is “not being honest” about the need to reform entitlements like Social Security and Medicare in order to tackle the deficit and the debt.
“We’re equally not being honest when we weaponize fear, as if somehow we’re going to take away the benefits from our vulnerable, our seniors,” he said. “We’re not, and reforming these programs doesn’t mean that we have to take those away.”
If cuts aren’t made now, they will have to be more “draconian” later, he said.
On the possibility Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax cut package making its way through Congress could add $5 trillion to the debt over the next decade, Curtis said he is not willing to add that much to the debt.
Curtis spoke to Raju ahead of news that Moody’s, a credit rating firm, downgraded the nation’s rating from its highest level because of concerns about debt.
“I think not only myself, but a number of us in the Senate have been very clear, right?” he said. “We have to reduce the deficit. And quite frankly, the numbers we’re talking about are small fractions of what we really need to be taking a look at as a country.”
Curtis said that’s not how things are done in Utah.
“It’s not the way we run our government there. It’s not the way we run our families. It’s not the way we run our businesses,” he said.
Sen. Curtis on where he agrees, disagrees with Trump’s policies
Raju asked Curtis which of Trump’s policies caused him the most concern.
“If we’re not careful, we’ll destroy small businesses with tariffs,” he said.
“And I understand you have to play the long game with President Trump and tariffs, and I’m not one to step in and out guess his negotiating style or technique, but I do think we have to be very, very careful with our small businesses, particularly when it comes to these tariffs,” he said.
Curtis added that he thinks what small businesses want is “consistency”
On negotiations over the end of the war in Ukraine, Curtis said, “Putin is not our friend,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But, Curtis had praise for Trump on his approach to border security and his foreign policy.
“It’s remarkable what’s happened at the border,” he said.
“We saw an incredible inflation report a couple days ago. We’re seeing some some stability internationally that I credit President Trump with. And so there’s clearly two sides to this,” he said.
Speaking about Trump’s decision to accept a jet from Qatar that would be his Air Force One, Curtis said it was best to stay away from the appearance of doing something improper.
On the Trump administration saying it might suspend habeas corpus — the right a person has to a court appearance if arrested — for migrants in the country illegally, Curtis said that is something Congress would need to decide.
“So Mr. President, bring me your case,” he said. “Make a case to me. But I will tell you, as I judge that case, I’m going to be thinking in my mind, what if this is a Democrat president coming after something that I think is important?”
Curtis on DOGE, independence and the GOP being the ‘party of Trump’
Curtis said Congress has abdicated its responsibility in balancing the budget, and that opened the door for Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to come in and make cuts.
“We need to cut. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have compassion,” he said, especially when it comes to how federal employees are laid off.
Raju also asked Curtis if it was possible to be independent in the GOP today.
“I actually think we serve the president best when we act and function more like a board of directors,” Curtis said.
“You wouldn’t want a board of directors to rubber stamp the president of a company, right? We do our job best when we tell President Trump what we see, what we think, what we feel. We’re another set of eyes for him and a set of hands,” he said.
“And I really think the best way to make President Trump successful is to let him know when we disagree, and he can accept that,” Curtis said.
He said he thinks Trump values thoughtful conversations about issues, despite stereotypes to the contrary.
Curtis on clean energy tax credits, Black history museum
Curtis urged his Republican colleagues to be thoughtful about cuts they were making related to the Inflation Reduction Act that affect green energy.
“I care deeply about leaving the Earth better than we found it,” he said.
He also spoke about his visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture before his remarks on Wednesday.
“We do need to focus on discrimination, we do need to focus on bigotry,” he said, ”and I think a reset is really important.
“Somebody’s not a bad person if they don’t know how to talk about this, and I think we really got to the point where you feel uncomfortable if you didn’t even know how to talk about this,” he said.