Tim Scott
Historical Details
Position on Issues
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Scott has voted against bills to ban "assault weapons," such as S. Amdt. 711.
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"Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), a GOP presidential candidate for 2024, argued on Friday for housing federal departments and agencies outside of the nation's capital, suggesting the Energy Department could be moved to Tennessee as one way to 'break up the bureaucracy' in Washington.
"'Literally — there are some agencies that we may have a conversation about eliminating, but we should take the bureaucracy and send it around the country,' Scott said at The Gathering, an annual event hosted by conservative talk radio host Erick Erickson.
"'Why not take the Energy Department and send it to Tennessee? Why does it have to be housed in Washington?' he said.
"'If you want to break the Potomac fever, give these agencies back to the American people. I literally think we'd have a smaller, less intrusive government if everything wasn't concentrated in Washington, and then insulated,' the senator added."
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"I'll be honest with you: In my opinion, while Strom Thurmond served the state well for about two centuries), I think he was there maybe too long. And Fritz (Hollings) didn't go home too soon, by the way. But especially in those days, having those guys around forever served the state well. In the times that we live now, I think that term limits (are) the way that we serve the nation well going forward. Too often, too many of us - but not all of us - get so comfortable in our jobs, that we think it's our careers. I had a career before I got here. I will have a career when I leave here. Now, I don't want you to send me home too soon, but I do believe in term limits. I voted for the maximum time of 18 years. I think three terms in the house and a maximum two terms in the Senate, and after that, you ought to hit the road, Jack, and don't you come back no more, no more, no more."
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Candidate's Website, 2023
"America’s children should be learning ABCs, not CRT. The radical Left wants to indoctrinate our children, not educate them. We will fight to ensure that America’s kids are learning how to read and write, not about gender transition and sexual identity."For| Read My Position
Candidate's Website, 2023
"Live within our means, by reining in the left’s out-of-control spending, ending earmarks and political favors, and making tax cuts permanent."
No Response
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2023
Should the federal government combat inflation by capping price increases by large businesses?
No Response
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2023
Do you support mandatory competency tests for federal candidates over age 75?
No Response
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2023
Should the federal government combat inflation by decreasing tariffs on imports from foreign countries?
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Like most U.S. presidential candidates, Scott has not said directly whether he would send U.S. military forces to defend Taiwan if China attacks the island. When pressed on the issue in May 2023 he said, "I'm not gonna deal with the hypothetical." He added, "I would think that having the opportunity to first instill the importance of Taiwan, second continue to provide the resources, third, continue to provide the-- the equipment and the military weaponry-- that puts us in that strongest position. And if necessary, then we make that decision at the time."
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Candidate's Website, 2023
"Biden’s electric vehicle mandates are bad for workers. Whenever Democrats have to pick between elite environmentalists and American workers, they side against working people."
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"One of the things that I saw in qualified immunity, and one of the reasons why [ending it] could be seen easily as a poison pill, is if you are going to go after character-driven, highly competent law enforcement officers, with the goal of making them more civil, giving them a higher level of responsibility from a civil perspective, you’re actually going to end up in situations where fewer officers are patrolling, as you noted earlier, some of the more challenging communities."
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Candidate's Twitter Feed, 2023
Scott has repeatedly voiced opposition to transgender women playing on women's sports teams. For example, in August 2023 he tweeted, "It’s not complicated, it’s common sense. If God made you a man, you play sports against men."
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Candidate's Twitter Feed, 2023
"Republicans should not be retreating on life. We need a national 15-week limit to stop blue states from pushing abortion on demand."
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Candidate's Twitter Feed, 2023
"Republicans should not be retreating on life. We need a national 15-week limit to stop blue states from pushing abortion on demand."
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"U.S. Senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) sent a letter to President Biden this week calling on him to reclaim American energy independence by approving the Keystone XL Pipeline and opening up federal lands to energy producers to increase domestic energy production in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine."
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Candidate's Twitter Feed, 2021
Tim Scott has not specifically addressed a proposal to raise the minimum age to purchase some firearms. However, he generally opposes additional gun control. In 2021 he tweeted, "Democrats’ anti-Second Amendment agenda won’t stop criminals from obtaining weapons. Burdensome gun control restrictions only hurt law-abiding gun owners, undermine the safety of our communities, and infringe on American’s constitutional rights."
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During the 2020 election, Scott defended the expansion of mail-in voting, and said, "This process of mail-in ballots will prove to work out just fine."
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Scott has not specifically said whether he would support or oppose marijuana legalization at the federal level. In 2023 he said, "I understand that some of us may be in very different places when it comes to the legality of marijuana. In my home state of South Carolina, marijuana is largely still illegal, and I, myself, have concerns with it."
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When asked about Social Security, Scott has not specifically addressed means testing.
In July 2023 Scott said, "I will protect your Social Security, and my mother's Social Security, period." He added, "In order for us to tame the tiger, we're going to have to take a serious look at the overall entitlement state that we have and make good decisions on supporting it going forward. The second thing we have to do is grow our economy."
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Candidate's Website, 2023
"Fully fund the construction of the wall at the southern border, while strengthening law enforcement’s capabilities to detect drug smugglers and human traffickers before they enter our country."
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Candidate's Website, 2023
"When I am President, the drug cartels using Chinese labs and Mexican factories to kill Americans will cease to exist. I will freeze their assets and sanction their money supply. I’ll build the wall. And I will let the world’s greatest military fight these terrorists — because that’s exactly what they are."
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"'Degrading the Russian military is in America’s best interest and solves two problems at the same time without American boots on the ground,' Scott said.
"'First, it prevents or reduces attacks on the homeland,' he said. 'Second, as part of NATO and land being contiguous to Ukraine, it will reduce the likelihood that Russia will have the weaponry or the will to attack on NATO territory, which would get us involved.'"
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"Scott warned the American people foremost of the Democrats' opaque plan to tax unrealized gains, appearing to differ from the left's implicit claims such levies only hurt the wealthy.
"'Part of their strategy right now is not only to increase the tax rates but to find new ways to generate revenue from revenue that is not [in] your account yet,' he said
"'That is something that is not just problematic. That is something that actually discourages the system itself.'"
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When pressed on whether he would pardon Trump, Scott has responded, "I'm not going to deal with the hypotheticals, but I will say that every American is innocent until proven guilty."
No Response
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2023
Do you support allowing the federal government to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs covered under Medicare?
No Response
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2023
Should the federal government privatize some or all of Social Security?
Against| Read My Position
Scott generally opposes tax increases. In 2012 he tweeted, "Increasing tax rates isn't the answer. Spending cuts, entitlement reform must be priorities."
At a September 2023 event in New Hampshire Scott said he would focus on growing the economy and cutting government spending overall in order to ensure Social Security remains solvent. "For us to actually have the resources necessary to meet our obligations, the first thing we can do is grow our economy. If we grew our economy at five or six [percent] using my ‘Build, Not Borrow’ plan — and ‘Made in America’ as well — to create those 10 million new jobs, we could actually have trillions of dollars of economic activity in our economy to result in billions of dollars of new revenues to the Treasury. If we don’t grow our economy close to 5 percent, we will not have the revenue generation to meet the needs that we have on our permanent spending."
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When asked about Social Security, Scott has not specifically addressed raising the retirement age.
In July 2023 Scott said, "I will protect your Social Security, and my mother's Social Security, period." He added, "In order for us to tame the tiger, we're going to have to take a serious look at the overall entitlement state that we have and make good decisions on supporting it going forward. The second thing we have to do is grow our economy."
Against| Read My Position
Candidate's Website, 2023
"Lead author of the Republican tax cuts: Slashed taxes for families, brought jobs and investment back from overseas, and created Opportunity Zones to inject private dollars into communities that have been left behind. We spurred high employment, low inflation, and fast wage growth for the working class."
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No Response
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2023
Should the federal government combat inflation by repealing or revising the Jones Act to allow more foreign involvement in shipping between U.S. ports?
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Candidate's Twitter Feed, 2023
"The U.S. Supreme Court was right to end the illegal and immoral effort by the Biden Administration to transfer student debt to taxpayers.
"If you take out a loan, you pay it back."
No Response
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2023
Should the federal government combat inflation by supporting further Federal Reserve interest rate hikes?
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Scott co-sponsored a Senate resolution "expressing the sense of the Senate that a carbon tax would be detrimental to the economy of the United States."
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Candidate's Website, 2023
"Expel illegal immigrants trying to enter the country by reinstating Title 42 to combat the fentanyl crisis."
