Donald Trump’s first, and rather ambitious, spending bill is running into some serious roadblocks. In particular, a number of Republican senators are raising alarm over its impact on the growing national debt. Cost The federal deficit would grow by at least $4 trillion. This shocking possibility has prompted fiscal hawks inside the party to call on the former president to start minding the budgetary scorecard.
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has been one of the program’s most outspoken critics. He pointed out that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis broadly aligns with his calculations regarding the bill’s potential costs. Secondly, Johnson made clear the necessity of taking any spending reduction at all serious. He said, “I believe that we can stop this process until the president agrees to stop spending more money and start reducing the deficit.”
The above mentioned bill that recently passed out of the U.S. House by a single vote. This narrow margin shows a striking lack of consensus, even among Republican members. We know that Trump has poured much of his political capital into this massive package. For one, it largely extends the tax cuts he achieved in his first term. The agreement cuts more than $1 trillion in benefits. This consists of $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid and $173 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food stamps.
Most recently, Republican senator from Missouri Josh Hawley added his voice to the rising tide of opposition. He testified that it would be a political disaster to cut health insurance for the working poor. This decision endangers the support of one of their key electoral constituents. This mood has found fertile ground among party members who doubt the wisdom of such cuts harming vulnerable populations.
Ignoring these red flags, House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to assure members that the bill wouldn’t hurt low-income Americans. He estimated that 1.4 million of these vulnerable people impacted were “illegal aliens receiving welfare.” This unfortunate statement has launched a barrage of criticism for its callousness and insensitivity.
As Senator John Thune bluntly put it, “National debt is a threat to our national security.” He indicated that more conciliatory language might be required to amend the bill to assuage doubtful members of his party. He tweeted, “I’m very concerned about that,” preaching to a new choir of GOP fiscal hawks, as the party is increasingly split on the issue.
Given all of these events, Ron Johnson’s judgment was stunning and merited his very personal criticism of Trump’s inappropriate behavior. He concluded, “We are mortgaging our children’s future. It’s bad. It’s wrong. It’s immoral. It has to stop.” This comment is indicative of a deeper worry among many GOP senators, focused on the long-term consequences of adding to our national debt.
Outside of social issues, the bill would change the dialogue on fiscal policy for the foreseeable future. It threatens access to health care for more than one million law-abiding undocumented immigrants due to the cuts that they have proposed. This new broadening of the scope injects an entirely new level of complications to a deep and already contentious fight within Congress.
Negotiations are continuing. It remains to be seen whether Trump can round up the votes for his spending plan, particularly given the GOP civil war. The road ahead will take some dealmaking and horse trading with people who are understandably fearful of adding to the national debt.