Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Newsmax that Congress needs to "scrutinize all federal spending."
The Wisconsin Republican told Newsmax's "Newsline" Thursday that it is the only way to get spending under control. The senator said, "If we do it like DOGE is doing, we can dramatically reduce the baseline spending level back to a pre-pandemic level."
Johnson proposed that Congress set up a panel to review the new federal budget line by line. He said it would be a learning experience. "About three years ago, when we were in the midst of an omnibus spending debate, I asked my Republican colleagues, 'Hey, anybody know how much in total the federal government spent last year?' Crickets." Johnson said the picture has not changed.
According to Johnson, Congress needs to look at every dollar being spent. "Total spending right now, discretionary, is about 24 percent of our federal budget. Seventy-six percent is called mandatory. It's on automatic pilot."
He said said a large percentage of mandatory spending is not for Social Security and Medicaid programs: "There's $1.3 trillion of other mandatory spending as well. So the problem is we have no process for looking at total spending."
Johnson wrote an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal detailing his proposal for a line item spending review. He said the concept has the initial support of President Donald Trump.
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Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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