As the Senate gears up to review the massive domestic policy bill passed narrowly by House Republicans, several GOP senators are voicing serious concerns. Leading the charge is Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who says there's enough resistance in the Senate to delay or block the bill unless it includes deeper spending cuts.
Sen. Johnson has been especially vocal about the financial impact of the bill, warning that it will greatly increase the national debt. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the proposal could add $2.3 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade. “We’re mortgaging our children’s future,” Johnson said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He urged Congress to go through the bill line by line and cut unnecessary spending.
Spending Cuts, Medicaid, and Republican Division
The current version of the bill barely passed in the House, setting the stage for a tense Senate debate. Some senators, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), have criticized the bill for not going far enough in reducing spending. Paul called the proposed cuts “wimpy and anemic,” adding that they won't prevent the federal debt from skyrocketing. “The math just doesn’t work,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Another key concern among Senate Republicans is Medicaid. The bill, as written, could end health coverage for about 8.6 million people, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has openly opposed any effort to scale back Medicaid. He recently said the Senate would likely rewrite much of the bill and emphasized that “there should be no Medicaid benefit cuts.”
In an opinion piece in The New York Times, Hawley criticized fellow Republicans who want to base the bill around reducing health care access for the working poor. He called that approach “morally wrong and politically suicidal.”
House Defends Bill Amid Mounting Pressure
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pushed back against claims that the bill would gut Medicaid. He argued that the goal is not to reduce benefits, but to eliminate fraud and waste within the system. “We are targeting abuse, not the truly needy,” Johnson said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
He mentioned that some non-citizens are using Medicaid improperly and argued that young, able-bodied individuals should not be on the program if they’re not working. “Every district has people on the program who shouldn’t be,” he added.
Despite growing pushback from his Senate colleagues, Speaker Johnson has urged them to keep changes to a minimum. He recently met with Senate Republicans, emphasizing that unity between the House and Senate is critical to getting the bill passed and signed by former President Trump by the July 4 deadline.
Trump himself appeared optimistic, saying he expects the Senate to make “fairly significant” revisions but believes the bill will eventually make it to his desk. “We’ll see what we can get,” Trump said, noting he may agree with some of the proposed changes.
Meanwhile, Democrats continue to oppose the bill, particularly over the risk of millions losing Medicaid. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) slammed the proposal, calling it “One Big Ugly Bill” and claiming it would lead to the largest health care cuts in U.S. history.
The bill passed the House by a razor-thin 215–214 vote, with a few Republicans breaking ranks or skipping the vote. Now, all eyes are on the Senate as the July 4 target date approaches—and with strong opposition growing, the path forward remains uncertain.
