--- ---  # Watch Ted Cruz Vow to Cut the Same Department Twice  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Nov 11, 2015 3:20 AM UTC  Presidential candidates Ohio Governor John Kasich (L-R), Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Carly Fiorina take the stage in the Republican Presidential Debate sponsored by Fox Business and the Wall Street Journal at the Milwaukee Theatre November 10, 2015 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Presidential candidates Ohio Governor John Kasich (L-R), Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Carly Fiorina take the stage in the Republican Presidential Debate sponsored by Fox Business and the Wall Street Journal at the Milwaukee Theatre November 10, 2015 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Scott Olson—Getty Images  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Nov 11, 2015 3:20 AM UTC Ted Cruz really doesn’t like the Department of Commerce. When the Texas Senator listed the five departments he would cut from the government in Tuesday night’s Republican debate in Milwaukee, he named the Department of Commerce twice. “It’s easy for everyone to say ‘cut spending, it’s much harder and riskier to say chapter and verse, here are the programs I would cut,” Cruz said. The Texas Senator said he would cut the IRS, the Department of Energy, HUD, the Department of Commerce — and the Department of Commerce again. So watch out Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker. Ted Cruz has got your number. Both of them. Watch Ted Cruz Vow to Cut the Department of Commerce Twice ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4107728/ted-cruz-commerce-department/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4107728/ted-cruz-commerce-department/"},"headline":"Watch Ted Cruz Vow to Cut the Same Department Twice","datePublished":"2015-11-11T03:20:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:30:26.373Z","description":"Bye-bye, Department of Commerce","url":"https://time.com/4107728/ted-cruz-commerce-department/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","ted cruz","Republican debate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2aead2590e14870f/6988706dcd1bba84246fe0af/republican-debate-fox-business1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2aead2590e14870f/6988706dcd1bba84246fe0af/republican-debate-fox-business1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Presidential candidates Ohio Governor John Kasich (L-R), Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Carly Fiorina take the stage in the Republican Presidential Debate sponsored by Fox Business and the Wall Street Jo","caption":"Presidential candidates Ohio Governor John Kasich (L-R), Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Carly Fiorina take the stage in the Republican Presidential Debate sponsored by Fox Business and the Wall Street Jo","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4107728/ted-cruz-commerce-department/","name":"Watch Ted Cruz Vow to Cut the Same Department Twice"}}]}] ```