Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) went after members of his own party on Wednesday over their support of the $1.7 trillion bill to fund the U.S. government.
Twenty-one Republican senators voted to start debate on the bill, which Axios reported is “a sign that the bill easily has enough support to pass a final vote.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who hopes to cash in on his bid to be elected House speaker next month, said that GOP lawmakers should hold off until they’re “stronger in every negotiation” as the party gains the majority in the House next month.
Johnson noted during an interview with Fox Business Network’s Larry Kudlow that McCarthy has publicly opposed the bill. (You can watch Johnson’s comments below.)
“He wanted to respect the voters’ wishes and have the House Republicans have a shot at making this more fiscally responsible,” Johnson said.
He added that he thinks leadership voting for the bill, which has support from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), is an “arrogant” move.
“I think it’s arrogant on the part of Senate leadership, Republican leadership, as well as those voting for this, to think they know better than hopefully Speaker-future McCarthy,” Johnson said.
“He was asking to have confidence in the House members. I’d much rather have confidence in House members on this spending bill than pass this thing, but it doesn’t look like that’s what’s going to happen,” Johnson said.