President Donald Trump’s "Big Beautiful Bill" is tearing the GOP apart. Republican senators, led by Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson, are digging in their heels, slamming the bill as a debt-exploding betrayal of conservative values, as the Daily Mail reports. This isn’t the MAGA revolution they signed up for, they say.
Trump’s bill, which sailed through the House last week despite five GOP defectors, slaps $3.8 trillion onto the already bloated $36 trillion national debt. It’s a cocktail of tax cuts, immigration tweaks, and deep Medicaid slashes that’s got the bond market twitching. Republican unity? More like a civil war.
The House passed the bill, but the Senate is where the real fight is brewing. With a slim 53-47 GOP majority, Senate Majority Leader John Thune can’t afford to lose more than three votes, even with Vice President JD Vance ready to break a tie. Trouble is, the rebels are multiplying.
Johnson, a MAGA stalwart, is leading the charge, vowing to tank the bill unless it shrinks significantly. “Right now we’re blowing it,” he warned on the All-In podcast, calling it the GOP’s “one big opportunity” to tackle the debt crisis. Sounds like someone’s ready to face a Trump Truth Social firestorm.
Johnson’s not alone -- Sen. Rand Paul is also waving the red flag. “It’s not conservative,” Paul told reporters, blasting the bill’s historic $4 trillion debt ceiling hike. He’ll only back it if that ceiling’s yanked out entirely.
Sens. Josh Hawley, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Jerry Moran are also balking, but their beef is with the Medicaid cuts. These aren’t your typical RINOs -- they’re just not keen on gutting healthcare for the poor while the debt soars. Principles over party, anyone?
The Congressional Budget Office isn’t mincing words, saying that the bill will balloon the national debt by $3.8 trillion. Interest payments on that debt already outstrip defense spending as a share of GDP. Keep this up, and we’ll be paying more to bondholders than to our troops.
Last week’s bond market dip sent a clear message: investors are spooked. Fears are mounting that the government might struggle to meet its debt obligations if this bill passes. Actions have consequences, and the market is sounding the alarm.
Johnson’s not just whining -- he’s got a plan. He’s pushing a three-step alternative: fund border security, extend current tax laws to avoid hikes, and tackle spending separately. “You don’t defeat the deep state by funding it at Biden’s levels,” he jabbed on the All-In podcast.
Other senators are hedging their bets. Rick Scott, Lindsey Graham, and Mike Lee want spending cuts but haven’t sworn to kill the bill. Graham, ever the skeptic, called the bill’s spending reductions “not real” to CNN’s Manu Raju.
“Don’t get high on our horse,” Graham added, warning against fake fiscal victories. He’s not wrong—slapping a “conservative” label on a debt-busting bill doesn’t make it true. The GOP is flirting with hypocrisy here.
Johnson’s ready to play hardball, even if it means defying Trump. “I’m willing to risk Trump’s wrath,” he declared on CNN’s State of the Union, vowing to leave the bill in limbo until spending is reined in. That’s the kind of spine conservatives crave.
Johnson didn’t stop there, invoking Memorial Day sacrifices to drive his point home. “I don’t think they served in sacrifice to leave our children completely mortgaged,” he said on CNN. It’s a gut punch to anyone waving the patriot flag while ignoring the debt.
Paul’s equally blunt about the debt ceiling hike. “We’ve never, ever voted to raise the debt ceiling this much,” he told reporters. Conservatives cheering Trump’s bill might want to check their math.
The Senate stands at a crossroads: back Trump’s flashy bill or hold the line for fiscal sanity. Johnson’s warning rings loud: “If the bill passes in its current form, Republicans would be really no better than Democrats.” Time to pick a side, GOP -- freedom or free lunch?
