Would-Be Senator Reveals Agency Hit List

Texas Republican senatorial candidate Ted Cruz has pledged that if he's elected, he'll come to Washington in January gunning for a few departments and agencies. It’s not clear the extent to which the conservative attorney’s bureaucracy-cutting plans are the reasons for his consistent double-digit lead in the polls over Democratic candidate Paul Sadler.

But give Cruz credit for some specificity. He would like to eliminate, a spokesman told Government Executive, the departments of Energy, Commerce, and Education, as well as the National Endowment for the Arts. He would also take out the Internal Revenue Service “as part of converting to a flat or fair tax,” the spokesman said. And he favors downsizing the Environmental Protection Agency.