Sen. Ron Johnson said Wednesday he’s not ready to support Donald Trump’s signature domestic policy bill. But the Wisconsin Republican said that the White House, including the president himself, is helping to move him closer to yes.
Johnson shared details of Monday’s one-on-one meeting with Trump in an exclusive interview where he credited the administration for working with him on a push to set up a budget review panel that would force Congress to return to the issue of deficit reduction even after the “big, beautiful bill” is passed.
He said he remains in discussions about getting the concept included in the megabill ahead of its floor consideration, which could begin as soon as Friday. Besides his meeting with Trump, Johnson said he also spoke this week with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“I realize we can’t do this in one fell swoop. I think the main sticking point is … what’s the forcing mechanism to actually realize those savings, to enact them?” Johnson said.
The panel, he said, would be made up of members of the House, Senate and the Office of Management and Budget. Part of the ongoing discussions are about how it gets funded and if executive orders are needed to back it up.
So far they haven’t landed on a “forcing mechanism” bulletproof enough to convince Johnson he will get another bite at the apple. GOP leaders, administration officials and even Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have said they intend to pursue another party-line reconciliation bill to sweep up any orphaned policy priorities, which would give fiscal hawks like Johnson another chance to seek funding cuts.
But Johnson is warning that verbal commitments won’t be enough to sway him. He said he floated a shorter debt ceiling hike to force Congress back to the table, but the White House has shot that down.
“I’ve got everybody’s attention,” Johnson said, adding that it’s “coming down to crunch time — they realize I’m serious, so they need to get serious.”
The behind-the-scenes efforts to try to get Johnson on board comes as Senate Majority Leader John Thune tries to lock down a range of holdouts on the megabill. He’s got fiscal hawks such as Johnson to contend with as well as a number of GOP senators who are concerned that the bill’s Medicaid cutbacks will have negative impacts on their home states.
Thune can lose three GOP senators and still let Vice President JD Vance break a tie. He acknowledged this week he “could” lose two or three of his members.
Monday’s White House meeting came after Trump privately told Johnson during a meeting with Finance Committee Republicans earlier this month that he needed to speak more positively about the megabill. Johnson said Trump acknowledged in their conversation that he had been more upbeat in recent weeks.
Still, he’s not a supporter. Asked about Thune wanting a first vote in a matter of days, Johnson noted that Republican senators haven’t gotten final text yet.
“I don’t mind the President and Senator Thune saying, okay, we’ve got to get this done by July 4,” he said. “I think that’s a stretch, I think we have a lot of outstanding issues, but setting that deadline is concentrating everybody’s efforts.”
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