Tim Scott calls for hard look into Democratic spending proposals

Scott, South Carolina’s junior U.S. senator, issued a statement Tuesday confirming that he was among the 14 Republicans to sign a letter demanding a full and open markup of Democratic spending proposals.

“While the legislation Democrats intend to introduce has been withheld from Republicans on the committee and from the American people, press reports indicate a far-reaching and potentially highly disruptive agenda, with trillions of taxpayer dollars at stake,” the senators say in the letter. “The American people deserve an open, thorough process to fully vet legislative proposals.”

They add that the committee has carried out its instructed responsibilities under regular order, even in the case of bills that have resulted in a partisan outcome including the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the Trump tax cuts, and that now is not the time to abandon this important tradition.

“Failure to hold a full, open markup . . . would also serve to further erode the American people’s trust in the Senate as an open and effective institution, substituting a secretive process behind closed doors for a productive public dialogue,” the senators say.