Ohio GOP senator not opposed to cutting tax breaks

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio’s Republican U.S. senator says he’d consider eliminating some tax breaks to further reduce the federal deficit.

Sen. Rob Portman also tells The Columbus Dispatch he’d be willing to be part of a special congressional committee that will have to draw up a blueprint for slashing more than $1 trillion off the deficit by November. That’s on top of the nearly $1 trillion in deficit cuts called for in the recent debt-limit deal.

The former federal budget director says the panel should not consider tax increases, especially since he says the economy is ailing. But the newspaper reports the GOP lawmaker indicated he’s not opposed to raising federal revenue through the elimination of some tax loopholes, credits, deductions and exclusions.