Stopping Fentanyl 

The Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl (HALT) Act passed the Senate last week with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 84-16. 

The HALT Fentanyl Act incorporates the permanent scheduling of fentanyl-related substances, which I first introduced in 2017 in the Stopping Overdoses of Fentanyl Analogues Act (SOFA). It ensures law enforcement has the tools they need to stop fentanyl's flow into our country. 

SOFA served as the template for the Trump administration’s temporary scheduling rule in 2018, and it recognizes the admirable devotion of Wisconsinites Dr. Tim Westlake and Lauri Badura (pictured above). Ms. Badura, who founded Saving Others for Archie, made it her life’s mission to end the fentanyl crisis after tragically losing her son, Archie, to fentanyl poisoning. 

WATCH: Video message from families (including Baduras) to pass the HALT Act

WATCH: 2017 video with Lauri telling Archie's story

It's a Spending Problem 

As a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, I met with President Trump last week and we discussed my plan to get spending back to pre-pandemic levels – saving a minimum of $700 billion.

There is so much room for reducing the size of the federal government and balancing the budget is entirely doable. I look forward to working with the White House and getting spending under control.

Thank you to Kevin O'Leary for highlighting my chart on Fox Business. This is an eminently reasonable approach to returning to a pre-pandemic level of spending. 

WATCH: Sen. Johnson on Fox Business discusses his White House meeting 

WATCH: Sen. Johnson on the Jesse Kelly podcast reviews his plan to balance budget

MAHA News

• LISTEN: I joined the MAHA Alliance podcast for a powerful discussion on the MAHA movement, RFK Jr., and government corruption.

• I was highly disappointed to hear that the nomination of Dr. David Weldon to lead the CDC has been withdrawn. Although we will never know exactly why his nomination was pulled, I suspect it had something to do with the fact he has had the courage to be skeptical of the consensus “narrative” surrounding the childhood vaccine schedule. Skepticism is the vital attribute of true science, and it is beyond unfortunate that someone with his background and integrity will not be able to help fix what is broken at the CDC. (I discussed this on Off the Record podcast with Emily Jashinsky.)

• My X post on the news that Steak n' Shake will soon be using Wisconsin butter instead of a "buttery blend". 

Bike and Pedestrian Safety

I helped introduce a bipartisan, bicameral bill to expand federal funding for bike and pedestrian safety. The bill is named for American diplomat and Wisconsin native Sarah Debbink Langenkamp, who was killed in 2022 while riding her bicycle in Bethesda. 

The Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Safety Transportation Act will expand federal funding opportunities for local governments to improve roadway safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.  

While honoring Sarah, this bill will protect Wisconsinites by investing in infrastructure to enhance road safety for pedestrians and cyclists. By using taxpayer dollars effectively, it will help prevent further deaths from preventable traffic accidents and ensure Americans feel safe when using our roads.

Telephone Town Halls

Thank you to everyone who participated in my 114th telephone town hall last week. 

We are now streaming our town halls on X, so you can listen to it here.
 
Questions asked include:

11:45    Introduction
13:45    Protecting personal information from DOGE 
16:27    Will there be cuts to Social Security and Medicare?
18:40    Justice System transparency 
20:20    Wasteful spending examples
24:00    Is Social Security a legal Ponzi scheme?
29:00    ICE and deportations
31:31    Federal worker layoffs 
35:04    How do we make the spending cuts permanent?
40:55    Inspector Generals and oversight
43:30    Support for Veterans and the VA
46:08    COVID-19 vaccine requirements for citizenship
48:04    Wisconsin manufacturing and tariffs
51:35    Controlling crime and fentanyl 
54:35    Taxing pensions
56:45    Bipartisanship
1:00:25 Federal voter ID and proof of citizenship 
1:02:36 Balancing the budget

 
To join future telephone town halls live, sign up here. There is also a link on that page to submit written questions during the live town halls.