As Donald Trump prepares to take the presidential oath of office, Republican former Sen. Alan Simpson called his presidency a big shift for the Republican Party.
"This is a sea change," he said Friday on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "It's going to be critically important. He's going to put people around him with experience and wisdom."
With Trump, Republicans will now control the executive branch and both houses of Congress. Trump will also get the opportunity to fill a vacant spot on the Supreme Court.
Simpson co-chaired the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which studied how to gain control of the burgeoning U.S. debt.
The former senator stressed the need for the government to address the problems he sought to meet while on the commission.
"[Y]ou either start dealing with the entitlements and Social Security solvency, listen to the wailing of the AARP and the senior groups and all the special interest groups, but boys and girls, you got to start acting like men and women and do something with this system," Simpson said.