Mike Johnson Pushes Back on Rand Paul Debt Criticism Over Trump’s Signature Bill

House Speaker Mike Johnson is hitting back at critics including Sen. Rand Paul who have sounded the alarm over the national debt impact of President Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” In a measured but firm response on Fox News Sunday, Johnson defended the bill as not only historic, but essential to restoring fiscal order after years of Democrat-led financial mismanagement.

Sen. Paul had just slammed the bill, warning it could “explode” the debt by $4 to $5 trillion, calling the proposed spending cuts “wimpy and anemic.” But Johnson made it clear: the bill is the biggest spending cut in over 30 years, and it’s the first serious step toward course-correcting after the Biden administration drove the national deficit into a $2.2 trillion tailspin.

“This is the biggest spending cut, I think, in the history of government on planet earth,” Johnson said. “Now, is it enough? Of course not. But we have a very delicate balance… this is a big step to begin to turn that aircraft carrier.”

Key points from Johnson’s rebuttal:

• The bill includes over $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, exceeding the inflation-adjusted cuts from any legislation passed in the last three decades.

• The debt ceiling extension is not a blank check, but a signal to the global markets that America will not default under Republican leadership.

• President Trump is “dialed in 100%” and fully committed to reducing the debt long-term, Johnson emphasized.

Johnson acknowledged Paul’s passion for fiscal responsibility even calling him a “dear friend” but pushed back on the idea that refusing to extend the debt ceiling would help the cause. “We’re not going to get any Democrats to assist on that,” Johnson explained. “So, to get it through the Senate and make sure we don’t crash the U.S. economy it has to be part of the reconciliation package.”

Here’s what’s being left out of the panic headlines:

• Trump’s bill doesn’t authorize new spending. It retools existing programs, guts wasteful federal initiatives, and redirects resources toward national priorities like border security and middle-class tax relief.

• The debt ceiling hike is a maneuver to ensure economic stability, not an open invitation to spend. Without it, the Biden-era default crisis becomes a real risk.

• This bill slashes federal waste and eliminates handouts to illegal immigrants a priority both economic and national security-minded conservatives have been demanding for years.

And the difference between Trump’s leadership and Biden’s couldn’t be clearer. Under Trump, we're cutting taxes, reducing deficits, securing the border, and restoring American strength. Under Biden, the nation has been dragged through reckless multi-trillion-dollar “stimulus” packages that fueled historic inflation, spiked interest rates, and padded the pockets of bureaucrats and left-wing pet projects.

Senator Paul is right to keep the spotlight on the debt. But Speaker Johnson is right that this bill while not perfect is the boldest move toward fiscal sanity in a generation.

The GOP has a chance here to prove that conservatism isn’t just about slogans it’s about leadership, solutions, and results. That’s what this bill delivers.

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