Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott — who represents South Carolina in the U-S Senate — says he’s ready to draw a line in the sand on federal spending, even if it leads to a government shutdown. Scott voted against this spring’s budget deal that set a two-year framework for government spending.

Scott supports the long term goal of making deficit spending illegal by passing a balanced budget amendment to the U-S Constitution. In the near term, Scott says federal spending should return to pre-pandemic levels and that would save half a trillion dollars over the next 12 months.

Scott discussed the looming budget fight in Washington during a weekend appearance at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s fall fundraiser. Scott was interviewed on stage by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird. She asked if Scott had a special lady in his life other than his mother.

Scott, who is 57, is the only unmarried candidate in the G-O-P presidential field. Scott says he’s been getting a lot of questions lately about his dating life after a Washington Post story in which he talked about his girlfriend, but did not reveal her name. On Saturday, Scott told the audience of 12-hundred conservative Christians that as the child of a single mother he knew the consequences of an absent father, and made a commitment to take a different path.

Scott is making stops today in Nevada, Fort Dodge and Mason City.