On Monday, Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo released the Senate's version of President Donald Trump's tax legislation.

While most Republicans appear to be behind the bill, one GOP senator recently backed away from supporting it.  

Sen. Ron Johnson will not back bill in its current form

According to The Hill, Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson told reporters that he does not believe that the legislation goes far enough in reducing the deficit, which is projected to reach over $2.2 trillion per year over the next decade.

The bill would make Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent, cut hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid spending, and phase out alternative energy credits enacted under former President Joe Biden.

First step in solving any problem: admit you have it.

Second step: accurately define it.

Step two has not been done. Let's take the time to do so. pic.twitter.com/bN6K00gEdJ

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) June 17, 2025

When asked if he would support the legislation should it come up for a vote in its current form, Johnson definitively said that he would not.

Republicans currently hold 53 of the Senate's 100 seats, meaning that the party can afford to lose as many as three of its members since Vice President J.D. Vance would pass the tie-breaking vote.

Rand Paul says he "can't support" bill, complains that "it's not conservative"

The Hill noted that Johnson is now the second Republican senator to voice his opposition to the spending bill, as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has done so as well.

"I’ve told them if they’ll take the debt ceiling off of it, I’ll consider voting for it," the website quoted Paul as telling reporters last month.

"We’ve never, ever voted to raise the debt ceiling this much. It’ll be a historic increase," the Kentucky lawmaker continued.

"I think it’s not good for conservatives to be on record supporting a $4 [trillion] or $5 trillion increase in the debt ceiling. “It’s not conservative; I can’t support it," Paul insisted.

Paul: "Republicans now own the debt"

"If they were to take the debt ceiling off of it and have the tax reductions and spending reductions, I’d probably vote for that," the legislator acknowledged.

"The spending reductions are imperfect, and I think wimpy, but I'd still vote for the package if I didn’t have to vote to raise the debt ceiling," he added.

Paul went on to warn that "Republicans now own the debt" and "now own the spending," stating, "There's no more blaming, 'Oh, it's [former President] Biden’s fault.' The deficit is fully and completely owned by Republicans after this bill."