OAN Staff Blake Wolf
4:12 PM – Sunday, May 25, 2025
GOP Senators have warned President Donald Trump that his “big beautiful bill” is at risk of being blocked unless he “gets serious” about cutting federal spending and reducing the national debt.
Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a fiscal hawk, threatened to shut the bill down in a Sunday CNN interview after being asked if he believes there are enough GOP Senate votes to veto the legislature.
“I think we have enough to stop the process until the president gets serious about spending reduction and reducing the deficit,” Johnson stated.
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“We are mortgaging our children’s future. It’s wrong. It’s immoral. It has to stop,” Johnson stated, referencing the national debt and the addition to the federal deficit in the bill.
The bill passed by just one vote in the House on May 22nd, by a count of 215-214.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul also vocally opposed the bill, arguing that the bill is set to “explode” the national debt by $5 trillion.
“I supported the tax cuts in 2017. I support making them permanent, so I support that part of the bill. I support spending cuts. I think the cuts currently in the bill are wimpy and anemic, but I still would support the bill, even with wimpy and anemia cuts, if they weren’t going to explode the debt. The problem is the math doesn’t add up. They’re going to explode the debt. The house’s is $4 trillion. The Senate’s actually been talking about exploding the debt by $5 trillion,” Paul stated on an appearance of “Fox News Sunday.”
“There’s got to be someone left in Washington who thinks debt is wrong and deficits are wrong and wants to go in the other direction,” Paul continued. “The deficit is a threat to our country. I think it’s the greatest threat to national security. And so I think you can’t do this.”
Following Paul’s Sunday morning appearance on the show, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) stated he agreed with Paul, “wholeheartedly.”
“It sounds like his biggest objection is the fact that we are extending the debt ceiling. That’s a critically important thing to do. We have to do it. We’re not going to get any Democrats to assist on that,” Johnson stated.
“I love his conviction, and I share it,” he continued. “The national debt is the greatest threat to our national security, and deficits are a serious problem.”
However, Johnson added, “You don’t turn an aircraft carrier on a dime. It takes a mile of open ocean. And so, it took us decades to get into this situation. This is a big step to begin to turn that aircraft carrier.”
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