In a surprising twist, several Republican senators are standing up to former President Trump’s ambitious “Big Beautiful Bill.”
They’re calling it out as a no-go for conservatives because of its massive spending increases.
These GOP lawmakers say the bill, packed with huge price tags, just isn’t the fiscally responsible move they want to make.
Ron Johnson Leads the Charge for Fiscal Discipline
At the forefront of this opposition is Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin, known as a staunch MAGA supporter but also a tough budget hawk.
Johnson has made it clear he’s ready to challenge Trump’s proposal head-on.
In an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, he said he’d rather let the bill stall indefinitely until the president shows serious commitment to cutting spending and shrinking the deficit.
Johnson framed his stance around the Memorial Day holiday, reminding fellow senators to honor the sacrifices made by veterans — not by saddling future generations with overwhelming debt.
He bluntly said, “I don’t think they served in sacrifice to leave our children completely mortgaged.”
A GOP Rift Deepens Over the Bill
Johnson isn’t alone. Other Republicans, including Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, have voiced similar concerns.
Paul openly said he can’t back a bill that would spike the national debt ceiling by trillions of dollars.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is trying to rally the GOP, urging his colleagues to get behind the bill.
But with the GOP’s slim Senate majority, every vote counts, and the opposition has made that clear.
While Senators Rick Scott, Lindsey Graham, and Mike Lee haven’t fully declared they’ll vote “no,” they’re demanding serious spending cuts before giving their support.
Graham even laughed when asked about spending cuts, calling them “not real” and cautioning Republicans not to get ahead of themselves thinking they’ve made big progress on fiscal restraint.
What’s Inside the “Big Beautiful Bill”?
The bill is meant to be a sweeping package covering a lot of Trump’s policy priorities — from tax cuts to immigration reforms.
However, it also includes significant spending hikes, which many conservatives find hard to swallow.
Medicaid cuts, for example, are causing friction, with Senators Josh Hawley, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Jerry Moran opposing those parts.
The bill’s proposal to raise the debt ceiling by over $4 trillion in the next two years has raised eyebrows across the GOP.
Senator Paul emphasized this is a historic increase and said he’d only consider supporting the bill if the debt ceiling raise is removed.
Divisions Even in the House
The bill faced pushback even before reaching the Senate.
Five Republican members of the House voted against it, though it still passed to the upper chamber.
Johnson reiterated his core argument on the All In Podcast: the Republican budget should focus on not increasing the deficit.
He made it clear that his support for Trump was tied to defeating the “deep state,” but continuing to fund government spending at current levels undermines that goal.
On Fox Business, Johnson criticized the bill’s all-in-one approach, suggesting instead a step-by-step process focusing first on border funding and then extending current tax laws to prevent automatic tax hikes.
The Road Ahead Looks Rocky
When asked about the bill’s chances of passing before year-end, Johnson didn’t sugarcoat it.
Unless spending drops to reasonable pre-pandemic levels, enough senators will stand firm against it.
So, what’s next? It looks like the GOP will continue wrestling with this divide over fiscal responsibility and party loyalty — and the final shape of the bill is far from certain.