Ron Johnson Seeks To Postpone Vote On Trump’s Megabill With Release Of ‘Dire’ Report

Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson is sounding the alarm about the deficit impact of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” raising the prospect that he will ultimately vote against the president’s landmark bill.

Johnson released a long-hyped report on the fiscal impact of President Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill Wednesday morning, arguing the legislation would add to the national debt even in high economic growth scenarios and fail to put the country on a path toward shrinking budget deficits. The fiscal hawk and known critic of Washington’s alleged failure to rein in government spending told reporters Tuesday that he’s informed leadership he will vote against the budget package as currently drafted and urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune to not put the bill on the floor before his self-imposed deadline of July 4.

“I hope he doesn’t, because I really think it’ll be voted down,” Johnson told reporters. “If we do vote down, I don’t want anybody to interpret it as a slap in the face of either Leader Thune or President Trump. It’s just saying, ‘Guys, we need more time.’”

“I want the Senate to take what the good work the House did and make it a much better bill — and that’s going to take a little more time,” Johnson added. “We need to understand the depth of the problem and what it’s going to take to dig us out of this enormous debt hole we’ve dug for ourselves.”

Though Johnson lauded the House for slashing roughly $1.6 trillion over a ten-year period in their budget proposal, he argued the level of spending reduction is not adequate to combat the increase to budget deficits and the national debt.