Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is raising eyebrows after comments on national television stirred speculation about the fate of President Donald Trump’s latest budget proposal. During an appearance on CNN, Johnson spoke candidly about the internal GOP resistance brewing in the Senate.
According to The Daily Caller, Johnson predicted that enough Republican senators are prepared to stall Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” unless their demands for spending cuts are addressed. His remarks highlight growing divisions within the party, even as Trump urges Republicans to pass his narrow House-approved package.
Johnson’s warning arrived just days after the bill barely cleared the House by a single vote. With the Senate on the horizon, the budget’s prospects now hinge on whether GOP critics will force major concessions or risk derailing a top White House priority.
Tensions over the budget began escalating last Thursday when Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” squeaked through the House with a 215-214-1 vote. Republican representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio joined Democrats in voting no, while House Freedom Caucus leader Andy Harris voted present. The narrow outcome underscored deep unease about the bill’s spending levels.
On Sunday, during CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper pressed Johnson for insight on how many GOP senators might join him in opposing the bill. Johnson didn’t offer a specific number but insisted there were enough to “stop the process until the president gets serious about spending reduction and reducing the deficit.”
Johnson’s comments are significant because Senate Majority Leader John Thune has acknowledged he can’t afford to lose more than three Republican votes if the package is to pass. The fate of the legislation may depend on whether party leaders can satisfy conservative holdouts demanding substantial fiscal reforms.
For Johnson and like-minded senators, the issue goes beyond politics. He argued that the current budget process is fundamentally flawed, warning that the country faces an “unprecedented level of increased spending, 58% since 2019, other than World War II.”
Johnson insists this is a pivotal moment to cut spending back to pre-pandemic levels. He told Tapper:
This is our moment. We have witnessed an unprecedented level of increased spending, 58% since 2019, other than World War II. This is our only chance to reset that to a reasonable pre-pandemic level of spending.
He criticized the legislative routine of rushing through complex appropriations with little transparency. Johnson warned that relying on Congressional Budget Office projections without considering the broader context, such as an estimated $22 trillion in additional deficit over the next decade, was “completely out of context with anything that really we ought to be talking about.”
President Trump and his allies have pressed for swift passage, emphasizing the bill’s importance for border security and defense. Despite this, some Senate Republicans are standing firm. In addition to Johnson, Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri, John Curtis of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota have all expressed concerns about various provisions.
Johnson’s position is not new. Earlier this month, he wrote in The Wall Street Journal that the bill’s “unsustainable federal spending” should prompt Congress and the president to reconsider. He advocated for a two-step process: first, pass a bill based on the Senate’s original budget resolution to secure $850 billion in spending reductions, then extend current tax law to avoid automatic increases and prevent default with a modest debt ceiling hike.
Senate Majority Leader Thune remains optimistic, recently stating there’s a “workable path” to 51 votes by July 4. Still, he faces the challenge of uniting a fractured caucus without further alienating members demanding budget discipline.
The upcoming Senate vote puts both the White House and congressional Republicans under the microscope. For Trump, securing passage of the bill is vital to demonstrating control of the legislative agenda and delivering on campaign promises to his base. For Johnson and fellow skeptics, the moment offers a rare opportunity to demand meaningful spending restraint.
If Johnson and his allies succeed in delaying or amending the bill, it could reshape the fiscal debate in Washington for years to come. Alternatively, failure to resolve the impasse could risk a government shutdown or force another round of tense negotiations.
With the Senate poised for what could be a dramatic showdown, all eyes turn to how party leaders manage the competing pressures. The coming weeks will test not only the resolve of fiscal conservatives but also the unity of the GOP as Trump’s presidency enters a critical legislative phase.
