(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Republican U.S. Senator says President Donald Trump’s tax cut package and budget deal is “big” and “a bill,” but “it’s not beautiful.”
Senator Ron Johnson told News Talk 1130 WISN’s Jay Weber on Thursday that there is no way he can vote for the “big, beautiful, bill” that Republicans in Congress are crafting.
“I’m not the only one saying I’ve got real problems with this bill,” Johnson said. “But my problem with it is principles.”
Specifically, Johnson said the proposal spends too much.
“I would think one criteria for the one big, beautiful bill would be we wouldn’t add to the deficit,” Johnson added. “Right now, this bill would increase deficit spending. It’s not going to decrease it. It’s going to increase deficit spending.”
Johnson also called the savings in the plan, a “rounding error,” and said the real goal should be for the federal government to get back to pre-pandemic spending levels.
“In 2019 we spent $4.4 trillion, this year we’ll spend over $7 trillion,” Johnson explained. “That’s a 60% increase, basically.”
Johnson’s criticism, and his opposition to more federal spending, aren’t new. He’s been saying the same thing for months.
“You can’t pick off a couple programs, make a few tweaks, do a CBO score, clap your hands, and say ‘We’re done.’ No, you have to literally go through the budget line-by-line-by-line. We don’t do that, obviously we don’t,” Johnson added. “I mean what DOGE has exposed was not only the waste, fraud, and abuse, but how oblivious everyone is to the waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Johnson, however, said he’s ready to support pieces of the ‘big, beautiful bill’ on their own.
“I’ll vote for the border spending, I’ll vote to extend the tax law, but I’m not going to vote on massive new tax cuts that explode our deficit further,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he is not optimistic that the plan will be finalized and passed by the July 4 deadline.
