US Senate Republican Ron Johnson says advancing Trump agenda depends on spending cuts

Washington: A prominent conservative senator predicted on Sunday that Donald Trump's tax-cuts and immigration agenda will not advance in the US Senate unless the president and Republican leaders agree to slash federal spending to a level last seen before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Republican Ron Johnson, a member of the Senate's budget and tax-writing committees, said spending cuts need to exceed a $2 trillion target approved as part of the agenda by the House of Representatives. He called on Republican leaders to create a review process to find additional cuts in the federal budget.

"Without a commitment to returning to some reasonable pre-pandemic spending level, and a process to actually achieve it, I don't think that's going anywhere," the Wisconsin Republican told the Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" program.

"That's going to be the discussion," said Johnson, who wants to scale back total federal outlays from an estimated $7 trillion this year to a $4.4 trillion level seen in 2019.

"We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to address this. This is our moment," he said.

Johnson's comments could spell trouble for Senate majority leader John Thune, who hopes to pass a revised version of the House plan this week.

Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate and need at least 50 votes to pass the agenda plan with Vice President JD Vance wielding a tie-breaking vote.

But congressional Republicans are widely split over spending cuts. Like Johnson, several Senate Republicans want far larger reductions than the House target to pay for the Trump agenda and address the $36.6 trillion U.S. debt. Others are urging modest cuts to protect social safety-net programs including Medicaid health coverage for low-income Americans.

The House and Senate need to pass the same blueprint to unlock a parliamentary tool known as budget reconciliation, which would enable them to enact Trump's agenda later this year by circumventing Democratic opposition in the Senate.

Last week, Trump pulled his nomination of Republican Representative Elise Stefanik as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, saying the move would help ensure his agenda's success in the House, where Republicans hold a razor-thin 218-213 majority.