Eric Hovde says he wants to cut all federal programs back to 2019 funding levels

Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde recently said during a radio interview that he wants to cut all federal programs across the board, bringing funding for those programs back to 2019 levels.

Hovde, a millionaire businessman who is running against Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin in the Nov. 5 election, has long said he wants to make cuts to federal programs to address the national debt and what he calls reckless government spending. He has specifically said he wants to make cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

During a radio interview with WUWM 89.7’s show “Lake Effect” that aired on Tuesday, Oct. 1, Hovde reaffirmed that he wants to cut funding for the programs that was increased during “lockdowns” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“All programs should be pulled back to 2019 levels,” Hovde said.

While Hovde has called for cuts to specific programs such as Social Security and Medicare in the past, cutting all federal programs would also affect assistance for housing, child care, educational, and food assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Head Start, which provides early childhood education to low-income families.

Hovde said that federal spending increased at the start of the pandemic because of stimulus checks and support to businesses. But when the economy started to rebound, “we actually continued to grow and continued to spend money very recklessly,” he said.

He also said legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, which were both enacted in 2022 with the goal of increasing manufacturing in America, are driving inflation.

“All federal programs spending went up, but the bulk of the increase were on things like the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS [and Science] Act, which, you know, I don’t know why we spent so much money for corporate welfare for big chip makers, that didn’t make a lot of sense to me, but that is the heart of why we have inflation,” Hovde said.

“It’s very simple: All you do is you pull all government programs back to ’19 levels,” Hovde said.

Federal spending has increased since the start of the pandemic. According to a factcheck by the nonprofit news outlet Wisconsin Watch, overall federal spending in 2024 was expected to be about $6.94 trillion, which is about 56% higher than in 2019.

Baldwin also appeared on “Lake Effect” and shared her own plans for tackling the economy, which largely consist of taking on corporations.

She said during the interview that she has focused on and would continue to prioritize lowering the cost of health care, including prescription drug prices. She says she wants to lower housing costs and is working on legislation that would crack down on investors who buy up homes that families then can’t buy and that would increase the housing supply. Baldwin, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, said that the body is focused on solutions to improve child care accessibility and affordability and that she has already delivered $122 million for child care programs in Wisconsin. 

On lowering grocery prices, she said she wants to go after corporate price gouging. She previously sponsored legislation that would give the Federal Trade Commission the authority to go after corporations for jacking up prices, which she said would deter companies from doing it in the first place.

“Checks really aren’t stretching like they used to, and families are struggling to make ends meet. And one of my priorities in the Senate right now is relieving some of the most pressing financial burdens for families,” Baldwin said.

Hovde previously ran for U.S. Senate in 2012, but lost the Republican primary. During that campaign, he also supported making cuts to federal programs. Hovde has also said he wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act and has criticized nursing home residents’ ability to vote.