For four years, Democrats in Washington pushed a reckless tax-and-spend agenda known as “Bidenomics” that blew a hole in the U.S.’s national debt. More than $10 trillion later, and along with 20% inflation that federal spending created, our nation is at a fiscal crossroads. The status quo is not acceptable or sustainable.

Democrats in Washington like to push a narrative that you cannot cut taxes and decrease the deficit. But economic growth fueled by The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, combined with common-sense government spending cuts and President Donald Trump’s successful America First trade policy, will prove them wrong once again.

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In fact, it is already happening. June saw the first federal budget surplus in more than nine years, with revenues exceeding spending by $26 billion, thanks to a windfall of $18 billion in new tariff revenue. While deficits are likely to continue in the near term, this is a start in the right direction.

The myth that you cannot cut taxes and restore fiscal sanity depends on dismissing the tax incentives in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that will drive investment, create jobs, and grow our economy. The simple truth: They will, and they have before.

Even though the 50-year historic average GDP growth is over 2.7%, the “nonpartisan” Congressional Budget Office forecasts economic growth will be just 1.8% in the coming years, and the projected deficit impact of the “big, beautiful bill” based on that growth would be $3.3 trillion over ten years. However, if our nation’s economic growth rises just 0.1% above the historic average and clocks in at 2.8%, federal deficits will actually be reduced by over half a trillion dollars.

Is this possible? We know it is because in the years following the passage of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, the United States’s economy grew by 2.8%. It can and will happen again.

Increased federal revenues driven by economic growth are just one piece of the equation. Trump’s successful America First trade policy is not only forcing our trading partners to the table to deliver better deals for American manufacturers and farmers, but it is also providing tens of billions of dollars for deficit reduction each month.

Even the CBO predicts that the new tariff policies will generate $2.5 trillion in new revenue for the federal government over the next 10 years. That is no small sum.

Putting direct tariff revenue aside, as countries come to the table and more markets open for American producers, our economic growth will accelerate further. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act and America First trade policies will turbocharge our entrepreneurs to produce more, hire more, and invest more here at home. This will only boost revenues flowing into the federal government further.

While economic growth and tariffs are part of the solution, Congress must be forced to address the elephant in the room: federal spending. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act took a massive turn down the correct path by cutting over $1.5 trillion in mandatory spending — the most in American history.

Complacency and lax oversight for years have allowed spending to explode, mostly in our nation’s social safety net programs. Fraud and abuse were allowed to run rampant, putting these programs at risk for the people who truly rely on them.

Through common-sense reforms such as work requirements, which more than 80% of the public supports, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has eliminated wasteful spending and protected these programs for future generations. But more must be done.

CBO SAYS ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ WILL ADD $3.4 TRILLION TO DEFICITS IN FINAL ESTIMATE

Economic growth and tariff revenue alone will not save us, but they are certainly a start. Congress must make responsible decisions in the years to come to prevent saddling the next generation with even more crippling debt and economic decline.

Addressing our nation’s debt crisis will require a multifaceted, holistic approach, but Republicans are already taking America down the right track.

Jason Smith represents Missouri’s 8th Congressional District and is chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means.