WASHINGTON D.C. (WKOW) -- Senator Ron Johnson said Friday he had no regrets about his decision to force an 11-hour reading of the $1.9 trillion federal coronavirus relief package currently in the Senate.
Johnson told reporters on a statewide press call he was "probably" going to honor his 2016 pledge to not run for a third term, but added a change in power at the Capitol will also factor into his decision.
"That pledge is on my mind; it was my preference then. I would say it's probably my preference now," Johnson said. "I'm happy to go home but that pledge was based on an assumption we wouldn't have Democrats once again in total control of government."
Johnson said he hoped a "vote-a-rama," in which lawmakers will file a flurry of amendments will lead to enough changes that whittle down the overall spending in the bill.
Wisconsin's senior senator said too much of the spending would happen beyond 2021 which, to him, took it our of the realm of pandemic relief. He specifically cited $350 billion going to states, which he believed would unfairly reward states that restricted businesses during the pandemic.
Johnson also said the bill took a "shotgun" approach to economic recovery, sending money to people who haven't lost work and have instead been able to save over the past 12 months.
"I'm happy to provide relief to people who need it, to businesses that have been shut down because of the pandemic of government edict," Johnson said. "But we haven't targeted it, we haven't directed it."
Johnson argued the total price tag was also far too exorbitant given the billions of dollars the federal government had already spent on pandemic-related assistance.
"1.9 trillion dollars - we've become immune to how much money a trillion dollars is," Johnson said.
When Republicans in 2017 passed significant tax cuts, the Congressional Budget Office estimated thosetax cuts would add $1.9 trillion to the deficitover the following 10 years.
Johnson defended that form of spending, saying economic growth would have paid off that debt had it not been for the pandemic.
"I think we were well on our way to paying for that with robust economic growth and activity," Johnson said. "I think we'd probably look at, this year or next year, making up that difference in revenue."
The Senate had paused Friday afternoon; the biggest question being to what extent moderate Democrats Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) would support amendments that eliminated some of the bill's spending.
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