During an appearance on Thursday’s “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business Network, Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) said there could be consequences if the so-called big, beautiful spending bill fails to pass.

The Kentucky congressman said allowing tax cuts to expire would be a “disaster for the economy.”

“I mean, congressman, part of the issue is all that money that went out the door around COVID, maybe overboard, too much money,” host Maria Bartiromo said. “I mean, you just mentioned the rescissions package, the final vote today on codifying the nearly $8.5 billion in DOGE cuts. But, that’s $9.5 billion. We’re talking about $7 trillion in spending under the Biden years. Is there any way you see — is there a path to get back to pre-COVID spending, in your view, in the coming 10 years?”

“Well, I think there is,” Barr replied. “And I applaud Rand [Paul] for trying to rein in spending. We need to rein in spending. If the Senate can give us more spending cuts, great. But, here is the bottom line, Maria. If we don’t pass the one big, beautiful bill, the American people are looking at a $4.5 trillion tax increase. That is a recession. A recession is the last thing we need in order to balance the budget. You can’t balance the budget if we go into a recession. So, the average family that makes $60,000 a year in Kentucky would see a $1,200 tax hike. That is a recipe for disaster for the economy.”

He continued, “The way to get out of our debt and deficit crisis right now is, yes, fiscal discipline, spending cuts, like we’re voting on today, but also massive economic growth and raising taxes on the American people. The way that the Democrats want to do is a massive mistake. That’s what will give us not only a recession, but also more debt.”

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