Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., criticized the "big beautiful" budget bill passed by the House early Thursday and said he's more insulated from the pressure coming out of the White House to quickly pass the measure, The Hill reported.
Johnson has said repeatedly — including on Newsmax — that he is a "no" on the massive reconciliation bill that now sits before the Senate.
"The goal of the House effort has been to pass one big, beautiful bill. It's rhetoric. It's false advertising. The goal should have been reduce average annual deficits, so we have to focus on spending," Johnson said Thursday, adding that House Republicans "set the bar way too low" in aiming for $1.5 trillion in spending cuts.
And unlike House Republicans, two of whom have been targeted by President Donald Trump to get primaried, Johnson is set in his seat until January 2029.
"In the House, President Trump can threaten a primary, and those guys want to keep their seats. I understand the pressure," he said. "Can't pressure me that way."
Johnson told Newsmax earlier this month that he was "not particularly optimistic" about meeting a July 4 deadline to pass the budget bill and that he will not support it without major spending cuts.
Johnson also told Newsmax he was seeking "rescission packages from the White House" in order to get the federal government back to pre-pandemic spending levels.
Johnson's not the only current "no" vote in the upper chamber. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is also against the bill, given increases to the debt ceiling, and Republicans can only afford three "no" votes. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, are also reportedly seeking major changes to the bill.
The bill defines and funds Trump's domestic policy agenda for his term, including extending his 2017 tax cuts as well as campaign promises like no tax on tips and overtime.
"Everybody likes the tax cut, but when you're $37 trillion in debt on the path to over $60 trillion in debt, right, when the Social Security Trust Fund is running out, somebody's got to be the dad that says, 'I know everybody wants to go to Disney World, but we just can't afford it,'" Johnson said.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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