BBB’s Path of Least Resistance

There was sound, there was fury, and then there was the predictable spectacle of Republicans—hawks and populists alike—falling in line behind Trump’s landmark bill.

And now that he’s majority leader, Thune has decided to make nice with Trump, realizing that a contentious relationship would doom his leadership and imperil his ability to gain respect from the growing number of colleagues who owe their elections to the president. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Leigh Ann Caldwell

July 2, 2025

Somewhere amid the slog of the Senate’s 27-hour session this week, I managed to steal a few minutes with Sen. Ron Johnson, the cantankerous Wisconsinite who was being courted as a key swing vote on Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. Johnson is perpetually frustrated: with congressional leadership, with his Republican colleagues, with what he calls Washington’s “addiction” to spending. But if Congress is an addict, Johnson is an enabler—he told me he’d reluctantly vote for the bill despite the trillions it’s projected to add to the deficit. And on Tuesday, he did just that, justifying his vote on a personal promise from the president that he would get serious about reining in spending… in the future.