Ron Johnson open to Trump megabill after Vance meeting
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) recently met with Vice president JD Vance to discuss potential spending cuts related to President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, referred to as teh “big, beautiful bill.” Johnson is pushing for more mechanisms to ensure additional funding cuts in future bills, expressing a desire for a second reconciliation bill to address unmet fiscal goals. Although he did not commit to voting in favor without these provisions, he displayed a willingness to negotiate during the discussion. the meeting, which included Trump’s economic adviser Kevin Hassett, has raised optimism in the White House about gaining Johnson’s support for the bill. Johnson is known for his analytical approach and plans to submit a report on the federal deficit based on data he compiled. He emphasized the collaborative nature of the discussions, suggesting a unified effort to achieve fiscal obligation within ongoing legislative efforts.
Ron Johnson open to Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ after Vance meeting
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), a key fiscal hawk, met with Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday at the Capitol, where the two discussed pursuing further spending cuts outside of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
“We spoke about the path forward, and what I continue to ask for is: I need forcing mechanisms to make sure we get another bite at the apple, that there’s going to be a must-pass second reconciliation bill so we can do what’s left undone in this bill,” Johnson told the Washington Examiner.
The conversation, which lasted about an hour and included Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett, raises the likelihood that the president’s legislative agenda can pass through the Senate. Johnson remains one of the biggest holdouts, demanding more than the $1 trillion-plus secured in the House-passed bill.
Johnson declined to say explicitly that he would vote “yes” with a commitment for a second bill, but expressed flexibility in an interview Tuesday.
“I don’t put a time limit on that,” Johnson said while reiterating his demand that the federal budget be reduced to prepandemic spending levels.
A source familiar with the meeting said the White House is “optimistic that there’s a path to getting Johnson to yes.”
The idea of two, or even three, bills pursued through reconciliation, the filibuster-skirting budget process Republicans are using to enact Trump’s agenda, began with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who told the Washington Examiner earlier this month that its guiding ethos would be “fiscal sanity.”
Ron Johnson stopped short of saying Vance agreed to a second reconciliation bill, but Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the Budget Committee chairman, has also assured him that it is an option, according to Semafor.
Johnson, notorious for carrying around charts and graphs, struck a conciliatory tone after the meeting, where he gave Vance a draft report he put together on the federal deficit. The senator plans to release the report after getting input from the White House.
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“It’s all very cooperative,” Johnson said. “I mean, people understand it. We’re all working toward the same goal.”
He previously met with Trump at the White House, where the president urged him to sound less pessimistic in his opposition to the bill.
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