U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is one of the few Republicans willing to speak against President Trump’s “big beautiful bill” as presented by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Sen. Johnson predicts the reconciliation bill will sink like the Titanic because it does not cut spending enough.
As seen below on Fox News, Sen. Johnson said: “I refuse to vote for something that is going to actually increase the deficits, that exacerbates the problem and the current situation.”
He added, “It’s not beautiful, I’m sorry, it’s not a big beautiful bill, that’s called rhetoric. It’s mislabeling.”
BREAKING: Republican Sen. Ron Johnson slams Trump's "big, beautiful bill," saying he won't support it. "I refuse to vote for something that is going to actually increase the deficits … it's not beautiful, it's mislabeling."
— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) May 15, 2025
Trump's bill is tanking.pic.twitter.com/w9HUpTcHoW
Sen. Johnson argued that passing a series of smaller bills (including a permanent extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts) rather than “one big beautiful bill” would have been more successful, especially in light of the uncertainty brought on by the President’s on-again off-again tariffs.
The Wisconsin Republican has been critical of Trump’s tariff policy, but has said that the President will “take care of trade” and admitted, “Really, there’s nothing that we can do. We can poke a stick in his eye. That just undermines him and I don’t want to undermine his negotiating strategy.”
Johnson has said he hopes his “nay” vote never comes to pass, citing the possibility that the House rejects the big bill first — before the Senate has a chance. But if the Speaker does manage to get the bill through, Johnson intimated that he is not alone in his proposed dissent.
“I really do think there are enough of us that the current version won’t pass the Senate,” he said this week outside the Capitol. Other Senators perhaps weren’t being as public about their reluctance, Johnson implied.
One Democrat in the comments, predicting a flip from Johnson, chimed in with the cynicism of a longtime Washington watcher: “Trump will line Ron’s pockets, and then Ron will be back on board. Rinse and repeat with Republicans stating in front of the camera that they won’t support, only to do a 180 after getting their pockets lined or family threatened.”
