– Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., told Fox News Sunday he is opposed to increasing revenues, as lawmakers attempt to refocus on reaching a longer-term spending agreement by the beginning of next year.

Blunt, vice chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, said any changes to the tax structure he would support would need to be revenue neutral, keeping revenue below 18 or 19 percent of the GDP.

“I don’t know anybody that is opposed to closing loopholes,” Blunt said. “This is not about closing loopholes – who is not for that? This is about whether you close those loopholes to make those tax rates lower, or close loopholes so you have more than 20 percent of the GDP coming to the government.”

Blunt said he believes Republicans have leverage heading into the next budget debate because of the looming threat of full implementation of the sequester, mandatory spending cuts approved by Congress and signed into law by the president at the end of 2011.