“We literally are the Board of Directors of the largest financial entity in the world”

WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) was joined by Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in a press conference to oppose the Pelosi-Schumer Omnibus spending bill and argue in favor of a short-term Continuing Resolution to allow ample time to analyze and debate additional government spending.

In 2019 – before the COVID-19 spending increase – federal spending totaled $4.4 trillion. As we approach the end of 2022, a 36% increase in spending to $6.0 trillion has been estimated. Sen. Johnson poses the question “Why haven’t we gone back to normal spending?” now that the pandemic is over.

“We, as 535 members of Congress, we literally are the Board of Directors of the largest financial entity in the world and we never talk numbers,” Sen. Johnson explained. “I’ve been asking colleagues, I’ve been asking reporters, do you know how much the federal government spent last year? And most people I ask look pretty flummoxed. I say, don’t feel bad. It’s not your fault. It’s because we never talk about it.”

“We're mortgaging our kids’ futures. This is killing us from a financial standpoint. It's got to stop. This process has to stop which is why I supported Senator Lee's unanimous consent request yesterday to pass a CR, as much as we all hate CRs, the dysfunction they represent. Pass a CR that gets us into next year. Not only to give a Republican House an opportunity to respond to the people that put them in place, but also to give us time to start understanding what these numbers actually mean,” Sen. Johnson continued.

Senator Johnson’s full remarks can be found here.

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