Two fiscal hawks in the U.S. Senate — Republican Sens. Ron Johnson (WI) and Rand Paul (KY) — are voicing their opposition to portions of President Trump’s “big beautiful bill” which passed the House on Friday.
Both conservatives want to see more spending cuts (Medicaid, Social Security and food assistance programs including SNAP) and a reduction in the national debt.
Paul wrote on X: “In case you needed a reminder, our national debt is currently at more than $36 trillion. That’s more than $323,000 per taxpayer, and Washington wants to add to that.”
On Fox News Sunday, Paul said the package was “not a serious proposal” and added: “Somebody has to stand up and yell: ‘The emperor has no clothes.’”
BREAKING
Sen. Rand Paul has just come out in opposition to President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”:
“They’re going to explode the debt… that’s just not conservative. I’ve told them if they strip out the debt ceiling, I’ll consider, even with the imperfections, voting for the… pic.twitter.com/M8mvmvrgCA
— Conservative Brief (@ConservBrief) May 25, 2025
There are also Republican Senators including Josh Hawley (MO) who are standing up and yelling against more cuts.
On CNN, Hawley said: “Over 20 percent of Missourians, including hundreds of thousands of children, are on Medicaid.”
Hawley added: “They’re not on Medicaid because they want to be. They’re on Medicaid because they cannot afford health insurance in the private market.”
You know how REAL the threat to cut Medicaid is?
Even GOP Sen. Josh Hawley and STEVE BANNON warned against cutting it.Can we get 1,000 fast RTs and replies using the hashtag #SaveOurMedicaid to get it trending on Twitter?
Please and thank you!
pic.twitter.com/o5w8x8Si0w
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!
(@mmpadellan) May 16, 2025
Sen. Paul faces a similar situation among his constituents, yet he consistently maintains that addressing the debt issue is more important to the health of America’s future than a continuation of Medicaid and SNAP in their current forms.
Note: In June 2024, Paul’s state of Kentucky had “a total Medicaid and CHIP enrollment of 1.4 million people. This represents a significant portion of the state’s population, with 28% of Kentuckians covered by Medicaid.”