Senator Ron Johnson isn’t buying the hype around Congress’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill.” In fact, he says it’s a disaster—and Republicans are helping Democrats bankrupt the country.
“I doubt Mr. Trump’s voters expect us to continue spending at President Biden’s levels,” Johnson said. “And I can’t imagine they want Republicans to increase annual deficits.”
The numbers tell the story. Federal spending has exploded—from $4.45 trillion in 2019 to $7.03 trillion today. That’s a 58% jump. And instead of pulling back, Johnson says Congress is barely even pretending to cut. The current proposal would shave just $1.5 trillion off a staggering $89.3 trillion in projected spending over the next decade.
“That’s not a cut—it’s a joke,” Johnson said.
He’s got a point. After World War II, spending was slashed from 41% of GDP to just over 11% in three years. “Truman and Congress understood the importance of fiscal sanity,” Johnson noted. “Today’s leaders? Not so much.”
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Worse, the bill could explode the debt even further. Right now, it stands at $37 trillion. By 2035, the Congressional Budget Office says it’ll hit $59 trillion—more than 130% of the entire economy.
Even more galling to Johnson is how much of this hinges on tax hikes. Unless Congress acts, parts of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts will expire in 2026, pulling in an extra $3.7 trillion. Johnson wants to stop that—but not without slashing wasteful spending.
He’s pitching a smarter plan: start by locking in $850 billion in real cuts while funding the border and military. Then move to extend the tax cuts and push for more reforms.
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“We need time to fix the tax code and expose all the waste and fraud in the budget,” he said. “If we don’t change course, America is headed off a cliff.”