Freshman Sen. Rand Paul, one of the leading voices of the tea party in Washington, said on Sunday that military spending will have to be cut if the country is going to get its debt problems under control.

“I think there is a compromise, but the compromise is not to raise taxes,” Mr. Paul, Kentucky Republican, said. “The compromise is for conservatives to admit that the military will have to be cut.”

Mr. Paul, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” brushed aside questions about supporting tax increases.

“They (the federal government) don’t need more money; they need less,” he said.

He said he would vote to increase the country’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling only if Congress passes a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution.

“The people of Kentucky elected me to shake things up; they didn’t elect me to raise the debt ceiling,” he told host Candy Crowley.

On the same program, Rep. Anthony Weiner, New York Democrat, signaled that Democrats may be willing to accept some concessions in the upcoming battle over the debt-ceiling vote.

“I think the debt ceiling should be passed as clean as possible,” he said, “but we need to have a reasonable discussion.”

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