Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson is signaling that he will not bend to political pressure to back the Senate draft of President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful” bill.
Johnson, one of the upper chamber’s leading fiscal hawks, has pledged to oppose the president’s landmark bill in the Senate and is working to receive commitments from the White House and congressional GOP leadership to bring spending down to pre-pandemic levels. Though Trump has suggested he will support primary challenges to any GOP lawmaker that votes against his tax and spending bill, Johnson told reporters he is untroubled by the fact that his “no” vote could cost him his political career.
“I’d be happy to be done with politics,” Johnson said in response to the president suggesting Wednesday morning that any senator who votes against the president’s budget bill will be “finished in politics.”
Johnson is leading the charge in the Senate to rein in federal spending, arguing Republicans have a rare opportunity to achieve significant spending reductions with a trifecta in Washington. He issued a report Wednesday morning showing the House-passed version of the president’s budget bill will add to the national debt and is seeking to get his colleagues to debate the fiscal impacts of the bill before voting on it.
“My report is meant to force people to acknowledge, here’s reality,” Johnson said. “People may not be real happy I released that report or that I’m saying, I’m gonna say vote ‘no’ but we respect each other … I cannot accept $2 trillion plus deficits over the next 10 years is the new normal,” Johnson added, referring to the Congressional Budget Office’s estimates regarding the budget bill’s expansion of budget deficits.
The Wisconsin Republican, who came to Washington during the Tea Party movement, is serving in his third Senate term and has suggested that he may not seek reelection in 2028.
He has repeatedly warned that Senate Majority Leader John Thune may not have the votes to pass the budget bill by the end of next week, telling reporters “there’s no way” he will vote “yes” if the bill is brought to the floor. Johnson also said he believes Senate GOP leadership will need his vote, suggesting the upper chamber’s other fiscal hawks could join him in voting down the proposal.
“We need time to look at this,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to go the Nancy Pelosi route [where] you got to pass this bill to find out what’s in it. Let’s know what’s in it beforehand.”
“But first, let’s understand the problem we’re dealing with,” Johnson added. “Let’s get the American people on our side supporting deficit reduction and returning to a reasonable pre-pandemic level spending, rather than just jam something through.”
Johnson does have notable allies, including Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott and Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee, but they have not said thus far if they would join the Wisconsin Republican in opposing the bill.
Johnson specified that he is seeking to address the deficit impacts of the budget bill on a macro level while Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott is focused on adding more savings to Medicaid and Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee is pushing for the bill to end the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act’s green energy tax credits.
Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has also committed to vote “no” on the bill, citing the budget package incorporating a $5 trillion raise in the debt ceiling. GOP leadership and the White House have countered that Congress must raise the debt ceiling to avoid a default on the government’s borrowing.
In a potentially ominous sign for Senate GOP leadership, Johnson expressed frustration that moderate lawmakers have appeared to win budget battles in the past and suggested that deficit hawks would not be so forgiving this time around.
“Why don’t we bring a piece of legislation and make them [moderates] vote against it once?” Johnson told reporters. “But what ends up happening is we do everything to the lowest common denominator — to the moderate position.”
“That position has landed us $37 trillion in debt,” he added.
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