Sen. Ron Johnson, a prominent Republican from Wisconsin, has not yet thrown his support behind Donald Trump’s signature domestic policy bill, but he has acknowledged the administration’s efforts to align him with their goals. During a recent exclusive interview, Johnson revealed details of his one-on-one meeting with Trump, where he credited the administration for working with him to push the bill forward. Johnson emphasized that the administration is supporting his push to establish a budget review panel, which would compel Congress to return to deficit reduction discussions even after the megabill’s passage.
Johnson noted that, while he remains in discussions about including the concept in the megabill ahead of its floor consideration, which could begin as early as Friday, there are still unresolved issues. The panel, he said, would be composed of members from both chambers of Congress and the Office of Management and Budget. The ongoing discussions focus on how the panel would be funded and whether executive orders would be necessary to enforce its authority. So far, they haven’t landed on a ‘forcing mechanism’ that Johnson finds sufficiently robust to convince him to support the bill’s long-term fiscal goals.
Johnson has also raised concerns about the viability of a shorter debt ceiling hike as a means to force Congress to address fiscal issues, which the White House has rejected. He cautioned that verbal commitments from the administration may not be enough to secure his support. “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.” His statements highlight the high-stakes nature of the negotiations as the administration seeks to secure legislative backing for the megabill, especially as Senate Majority Leader John Thune works to overcome opposition from fiscal hawks and other senators concerned about the bill’s impact on their home states.
The challenges in passing the megabill are further complicated by the need to secure bipartisan support, with some GOP senators voicing concerns about the Medicaid cutbacks proposed in the bill. Thune has acknowledged that he could lose three GOP senators and still let Vice President JD Vance break a tie, indicating the tight margins involved in securing the bill’s passage. Despite these challenges, the pressure is mounting for the administration and Congress to resolve the outstanding issues and move the bill forward by a self-imposed deadline of July 4, a timeline that Johnson said seems ambitious given the complexity of the remaining issues.