Ron Johnson and Rand Paul warn tax-and-spending package could be blocked unless deficit slashed
Donald Trump’s flagship tax-and-spending legislation—the so-called “big, beautiful bill”—faces stiff resistance in the US Senate, with two prominent Republican senators warning they have enough support to halt the bill unless it is dramatically amended to cut the federal deficit.
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson said bluntly: “I think we have enough [votes] to stop the process until the president gets serious about spending reduction and reducing the deficit.” He estimated the legislation could add up to US$4tn to the national debt—an assessment broadly in line with preliminary projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The bill narrowly passed the House of Representatives last week by a single vote, but now faces a perilous journey in the upper chamber, where Republicans hold a slim 53–47 majority. Under budget reconciliation rules, the bill requires only a simple majority to pass and cannot be filibustered. Still, if three Republican senators defect, the bill could be blocked unless Vice President J.D. Vance casts a tie-breaking vote.
Johnson, a long-time fiscal hardliner, warned the package was fiscally reckless and offered only “wimpy and anemic” cuts. He also issued a rare rebuke of Trump himself: “We are mortgaging our children’s future. It’s wrong. It’s immoral. It has to stop.”
Joining Johnson was Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who echoed concerns about the bill’s impact on the deficit. “The math doesn’t add up,” Paul said on Fox News Sunday, calling the proposed US$4tn debt ceiling hike “not conservative” and warning the legislation would “explode deficits.”
The bill includes several key Trump policy priorities, including:
- A permanent extension of the 2017 tax cuts
- Increased military and border security spending
- Roughly US$1tn in cuts to social safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps)
- A temporary tax break on service tips
The legislation has already drawn fire from both ends of the Republican caucus. House Speaker Mike Johnson has urged senators to make “as few modifications as possible,” citing the delicate balance that allowed the bill to pass the House.
“I have a very delicate equilibrium that we’ve reached over a long period of time,” the speaker said on CBS’s Face the Nation. “It’s best not to meddle with it too much.”
But Senate Republicans seem in no mood to fall in line. Several are uneasy about the bill’s proposed cuts to Medicaid, which the CBO says could cause more than 8 million Americans to lose health coverage. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called such cuts “politically suicidal,” while Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has also raised concerns. Many of the affected recipients are Trump voters.
Trump allies outside Congress are also wary. Steve Bannon, speaking on his War Room podcast, warned: “You got to be careful, because a lot of MAGA is on Medicaid.”
Further complicating matters, the bill’s changes to green energy tax credits and state-and-local tax deductions have also drawn criticism from Senate Republicans, threatening additional defections.
Speaker Johnson has claimed the bill includes the largest spending cut “in at least 30 years,” estimating savings of US$1.5tn. But he also defended its growth-focused aims: “This bill is going to be jet fuel to the U.S. economy.”
The CBO has yet to release a final score on the bill, but its early analysis suggests the highest earners would benefit most, while the lowest-income Americans would see their net resources fall.
In response to criticism about undocumented immigrants on Medicaid, Johnson claimed that 1.4 million “illegal aliens” were receiving benefits. However, the non-partisan FactCheck.org has found this assertion to be false—undocumented immigrants are ineligible for Medicaid, except for emergency services.
With key fiscal deadlines looming—including a July crunch point for the debt ceiling—lawmakers face mounting pressure to either amend or split the package. Some Republicans have suggested separating the debt ceiling provision from the rest of the bill, but such a move could trigger a new political battle.
As the legislative struggle enters its next phase, Senator Paul made clear that some Republicans are ready to take a stand. “There’s got to be someone left in Washington who thinks debt is wrong,” he said. “Somebody has to yell, ‘The emperor has no clothes.’”
