House speaker on ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ passing and potential impact
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the economic impact of President Donald Trump's "One Big, Beautiful Bill."
Speaker Johnson says $4 to $5 trillion, over the next decade, is "about the right estimate" for the total cost of President Trump's bill, which passed the House last week, and he says "cuts to government" through the bill will give the American people "historic savings."
"That was a big campaign promise of President Trump and a big promise of ours, and we're going to achieve that. So in the calculation here, there's more than $1.5 trillion in savings for the people. And that's the largest amount...biggest cut in government, really, in at least 30 years and if you adjust for inflation, probably the largest in the history of government. So we're proud of what we produced here. We've checked all the boxes, where all the things that you mentioned in existence...in addition to American energy dominance, investing in our military industrial base, which is appropriate for us to talk about this weekend and so many other priorities and that's why we call it the 'One Big Beautiful Bill.'
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Speaker
Johnson calls it "arguably the most consequential legislation Congress will pass in many generations."
During the interview, Brennan and Johnson talked about the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, with Brennan asking Johnson how he will defend it to his constituents, and Johnson said:
"We have not cut Medicaid, and we have not cut SNAP. What we're doing is working on fraud, waste and abuse, and everyone in Louisiana and around the country understands that that's a responsibility of Congress. Just in Medicaid, for example, you've got 1.4 million illegal aliens receiving those benefits. That is not what Medicaid is intended for. It's intended for vulnerable populations, for young, single, pregnant women and the elderly and the disabled and people who desperately need those resources. Right now, they're being drained by fraud, waste and abuse. You've got about 4.8 million people on Medicaid right now nationwide who are able-bodied workers, young men, for example, who are not working, who are taking advantage of the system. If you are able to work and you refuse to do so, you are defrauding the system. You're cheating the system. And no one in the country believes that that's right. So there's a moral component to what we're doing. And when you make young men work, it's good for them, it's good for their dignity, it's good for their self worth, and it's good for the community that they live in."
Johnson also added, "What we're doing is strengthening Medicaid and SNAP so that they can exist, so that they'll be there for the people that desperately need it the most, and it's not being taken advantage of. And this is something that everybody in Congress, Republicans and Democrats should agree to."
Later in the interview, Brennan and Johnson talked about a provision in the bill regarding separation of power and a new requirement for federal judges. The provision would restrict federal courts' ability to enforce some injunctions.
Johnson says that the Senate may take this out, but "we bothered to stick it in because that's our responsibility in Congress" and it was meant to restrict "activist judges."
To watch more of Brennan's interview with Johnson, click here.
