One Republican Senator known for backing the President’s agenda who is generally beloved by MAGA supporters has broken ranks openly with President Trump. And the heat has come quick and hot against Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. The issue isn’t cutting waste or DOGE — he’s all for that.  And it has nothing to do with the overall methodology of the President’s tariff strategy. The issue is the 1.5 Trillion that was initially discussed as a cost of the President’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’. If it had remained a $1.5 Trillion bill, Senator Johnson wouldn’t have balked.  But the 3.4 Trillion that it ultimately became before it left Speaker Johnson’s House was enough to have the Senator drawing red lines and swearing not to cross them. Here’s the key moment creating the dustup; an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union show with Jake Tapper in which he lays out his deficit issues with President Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’: I fully support @POTUS and his efforts to clean up the enormous mess left by Biden. I pledged to do everything I can to stop mortgaging our children’s future, and I fully intend to make sure we are looking at the most relevant numbers in the Senate budget debate. pic.twitter.com/Gm9GOOtXRO — Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) May 25, 2025 Here’s the full screen version for that video for convenience: I fully support @POTUS and his efforts to clean up the enormous mess left by Biden. I pledged to do everything I can to stop mortgaging our children’s future, and I fully intend to make sure we are looking at the most relevant numbers in the Senate budget debate. pic.twitter.com/Gm9GOOtXRO — Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) May 25, 2025 Generally speaking, that’s a foundational argument in line with a conservative approach to small government and reigning in spending. What the friction really comes down to is whether or not it really is a $3-$4 Trillion dollar spending bill. Or, whether after certain dynamics are taken in to consideration it actually remains closer to that original $1.5 Trillion mark.  (More on how that works in a moment.) Senator Johnson has been questioned about the potential ire he is risking with President Trump for so openly rebuking the President’s massive spending bill, to which he retorted he was willing to risk it: GOP Senator Ron Johnson rips Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill”: “I couldn’t care less if he’s upset. I’m concerned about my children and grandchildren. $37 trillion in debt and we’re going to add to it? There is no way I’m going to vote for this bill in its current form.” pic.twitter.com/uTFyi7JK8m — TheBlaze (@theblaze) May 23, 2025 Johnson said basically the same thing to Jake Tapper during that CNN appearance, adding that he wanted to see President Trump get serious about the deficit, according to a report in the Daily Mail: Republican senators are breaking ranks with Donald Trump over his ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ (BBB) branding it ‘not good for conservatives’ and vowing to vote against the proposed package amid concerns over the sky-rocketing national debt. Budget hawks within the GOP, led by MAGA hardliner Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, have pledged to hold up the bill in the upper chamber unless it is significantly downsized. Johnson warned that the legislation represented ‘our one big opportunity’ to address America’s looming debt crisis and ‘right now we’re blowing it.’ In a stern rebuke the senator told the All-In podcast on Saturday, if the bill passes in its current form, Republicans would be ‘really no better than Democrats .’ The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the BBB will add another $3.8 trillion to the national debt which currently stands at a monstrous $36 trillion – the interest payments alone now outpace defense spending as a proportion of GDP. Johnson told CNN’s State of the Union that he was willing to risk Trump’s wrath and leave the bill in limbo ‘until the president gets serious about spending reduction and reducing the deficit.’ The heat has definitely ramped up against Sen. Johnson after his outspoken rebuke of the President’s landmark legislation. He quickly went from hardcore MAGA favorite, to showing up in lists alongside the likes of Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitch McConnell: RINO TRAITORS: These “Republicans” are blocking Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill: Ron JohnsonSusan CollinsLisa MurkowskiMitch McConnellLindsey GrahamThom Tillis Backed by Trump, now backstabbing him. Bought by the swamp. Get rid of them all. — Trent Leisy (@realTrentLeisy) May 24, 2025 I don’t think I’ve ever heard Sen. Ron Johnson called a RINO before. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone arguing about CUTTING SPENDING called a RINO by Trump supporters. That’s generally the exact opposite of what happens when a conservative starts talking about cutting spending and doing something about the deficit. Here’s Sen. Johnson explaining his position during the 2025 State Republican Convention in Wisconsin: Republican leaders repeatedly say, “We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem.” Right now, it doesn’t appear that they are willing to fix it. I am going to insist that we do. pic.twitter.com/dGTY5t8Xvh — Ron Johnson (@RonJohnsonWI) May 18, 2025 I have to say — that’s hard to argue with. Except… is he right?  Or is Speaker Johnson right in terms of the accounting methodology that determines how the bill is tallied up? Is it a $1.5 Trillion spending bill after all, more in line with House Speaker Johnson’s argument? According to Speaker Johnson, Senator Johnson is failing to take in to consideration something called “dynamic accounting” that factors in EXPECTED GROWTH that comes as a RESULT of certain spending. House Speaker Johnson argued that the bill isn’t nearly as negatively impactful on the deficit as the Congressional Budget Office made it out to be, for that reason, as reported in the New York Post: Republicans lack the necessary support in the Senate to get President Trump’s marquee One Big Beautiful Bill Act over the finish line in its current form, Sen. Ron Johnson warned. Johnson (R-Wis.) has been one of the most outspoken critics of the megabill’s impact on deficits alongside Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and has vowed to oppose it in its current shape, regardless of pressure from Trump. “We have enough to stop the process until the president gets serious about the spending reduction and reducing the deficit,” Johnson told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. If it becomes law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could add $3.1 trillion to the debt to the deficit over a 10-year period, according to an assessment from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) argued that the deficit impact has been “dramatically overstated” and praised the roughly $1.5 trillion in cuts included in the massive bill. “The CBO [Congressional Budget Office] has been panned because, as you said, they don’t do dynamic scoring,” the speaker told “State of the Union.” “They don’t account for the growth that will be fostered by all the policies.” (Emphasis added.) Honestly, I don’t know who is right on this — for all I know… Senator Ron Johnson is nailing this, and everyone else is hyped up because it’s REPUBLICANS doing the spending rather than Democrats. I promise… that would be a marked improvement.  But the point is supposed to be cutting government spending and drawing down on the deficit — exactly as Sen. Johnson is arguing. But it’s very possible that House Speaker Johnson’s nuanced approach to the “true” cost of the bill is very likely correct. Honestly, I hope so.  The problem is I haven’t seen a good case made for that. Saying it is one thing; explaining it succinctly so the American people understand the approach is another thing. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened on this issue. Here’s a longer clip of the segment creating all the controversy in case you want to dig in a little more on Sen. Johnson’s comments. I’ll say this: he doesn’t come across as a grandstander.  He comes across as the principled conservative that I appreciate. You be the judge: Ultimately, what is probably getting the most attention is his boldness in the position he’s taking. He’s not just saying “We need to work this out”.  It’s more like he’s saying the bill is immoral and wrong. In fact, that’s exactly what he said, as quoted in a story by The Independent: “It’s immoral. It’s wrong. It has to stop,” Johnson said. “This is our moment. We’ve witnessed an unprecedented level of increased spending.” “58% since 2019,” the senator continued. “This is our only chance to reset that to a reasonable, pre-pandemic level of spending.” The debt increase fears were raised repeatedly by conservatives on the House Freedom Caucus before the bill’s final passage on Thursday. But every member of the caucus voted for the bill, save chairman Andy Harris, who voted “present”. Two other Republican members of the House, Warren Davidson (who was expelled from the Freedom Caucus last year) and Thomas Massie, voted against the bill. In essence, I have to say I agree with Senator Johnson. The problem is… he might be right on principle, and HOUSE SPEAKER Johnson might be right on the FACTS in terms of the “true” cost of the spending bill. Every time President Trump does something that seems wild or a little off from the principles of conservative small government, I end up eating crow. Over and over again he does something or says something almost off the cuff that sounds like it doesn’t fit with conservative principles — only to realize after some critical thinking… he’s nailing it, and he’s just thinking about it MORE than everyone else ever has. So… I don’t know.  But I wish I did. Where do you land on this?  Is Sen. Johnson a MAGA traitor? Or is he holding to the principled moorings of reality while the rest of us drift a little carelessly because we feel a little less panicked over big spending right now?