House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., acknowledged that the Senate is likely to make changes to the House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), but he urged caution, hoping the framework developed over the past year remains largely intact.
“I’ve been very consistent with our colleagues in the Senate,” Johnson said during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, one of several Sunday interviews, including CBS News’ Face the Nation. “We worked hand in glove with them all through this process, remembering that the House began this more than a year ago. It was March of last year when we got our committee chairs together and told them to begin to prepare for this massive reconciliation package.
“We believed at that time, more than a year ago, that we would win the White House and Senate and the House and have unified government and have this, really once in a generation opportunity to do so much in one piece of legislation.”
While acknowledging Senate input is inevitable, Johnson emphasized that only minimal changes should be made.
“I met with the Senate Republicans, all my colleagues over there last week on Tuesday at their weekly luncheon,” he told CNN. “And I encouraged them to do their work, of course as we all anticipate, but to make as few modifications to this package as possible, remembering that we’ve got to pass it one more time to ratify their changes in the House.
“And I have a very delicate balance here, a very delicate equilibrium that we’ve reached over a long period of time, and it’s best not to meddle with it too much.”
Johnson underscored the urgency of passing the bill by July 4.
“The reason I tried to get this done, and we did get it done, before Memorial Day and send it to the Senate is so the president can be signing this into law by Independence Day on July 4th,” he said. “Why is that so important? Because we’ve got to get relief to the American people and that we also need to, for political purposes, give a lot of time, enough time for everyone to see that this package actually is what we say: It’s going to help the country, it’s going to help the economy, it’s going to help all boats to rise, just as we did after the first two years of the first Trump administration.
“And so we’re anxious to get this signed into law so people feel it and see it before that midterm election, and they understand it is the Republicans who are doing the best for hardworking Americans, low-income families, and everyone who deserves a better shot.”
On CBS, Johnson called the OBBB “jet fuel for the American economy” and pushed back against criticisms from the left, particularly regarding proposed reforms to Medicaid and SNAP.
“We have not cut Medicaid, and we have not cut SNAP,” Johnson said to host Margaret Brennan. “What we’re doing, Margaret, is working on fraud, waste, and abuse. And everyone in Louisiana and around the country understands that’s a responsibility of Congress.
“Just in Medicaid, for example, you’ve got 1.4 million illegal aliens receiving those benefits. That is not what Medicaid is intended for. It’s intended for vulnerable populations, for young single pregnant women and, and the elderly and the disabled and people who desperately need those resources.
“Right now, they’re being drained by fraud, waste, and abuse.
“You got about 4.8 million people on Medicaid right now nationwide, who are able-bodied workers, young men, for example, who are not working, who are taking advantage of the system. If you are able to work and you refuse to do so, you are defrauding the system, you’re cheating the system, and no one in the country believes that that’s right.
“So, there’s a moral component to what we’re doing. And when you make young men work, it’s good for them. It’s good for their dignity, it’s good for their self-worth, and it’s good for the community that they live in.”
Johnson also responded to criticism from Senate Republicans like Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., regarding the debt ceiling and federal spending.
“Well, I agree wholeheartedly with what my dear friend Rand Paul said,” Johnson said during a separate interview with Fox News’ Shannon Bream. “I love his conviction, and I share it. The national debt is the greatest threat to our national security and deficits are a serious problem.
“What I think Rand is missing on this one is the fact that we are quite serious about this. This is the biggest spending cut, Shannon, in more than 30 years. We’re going to cut one over $1.5 trillion in spending, it’s a big leap forward.
“The last time we had a spending cut was three decades ago, and it was only $800 billion even adjusted for inflation. This is the biggest spending cut, I think, in the history of government, on planet Earth. Now, is it enough? Of course not. But we have a very delicate balance, and we have to start the process.”
He acknowledged the difficulty of immediate, sweeping budget reforms.
“I liken this to an aircraft carrier: You don’t turn an aircraft carrier on a dime; it takes a mile of open ocean,” he said. “And so, it took us decades to get into this situation. This is a big step to begin to turn that aircraft carrier.
“One important point about what he said, 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. So, to get it through the Senate and make sure we don’t crash the U.S. economy and default on our debts for the first time in history, it has to be part of the reconciliation package.
“And that’s why the President Trump and all the other Republicans in Congress, House and Senate understand the necessity of this.”
Raising the debt ceiling, Johnson said, is a response to the financial legacy of the Biden administration.
“Important point here: It does not mean that we’re going to spend more money. We’re extending the debt ceiling to show to creditors, the bond markets, the stock market, that the Congress is serious about this. President Trump is dialed in 100%,” he said. “He is a visionary leader. He does not want to spend more money.
“Russ Vought is the director of the Office of Management and Budget, long seen as a strict fiscal hawk, as I liken myself to be as well. And Rand Paul is one who has applauded and said great things about Russ Vought’s perspective. Russ said about two weeks ago that the criticism on fiscal grounds about this bill is profoundly inaccurate.”
