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Ron Johnson: “States are probably somewhere 12 to 15 [percent of GDP].”

Featuring: Ron Johnson, Republican | U.S. Senate, Wisconsin

Senator Ron Johnson Discusses Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Reconciliation Challenges

Published May 25, 2025 | Video Starts at 43:41

That was the foundational premise of America, government close to government, where it's more effective, more efficient, more accountable. Now we're spending close to 24%, the federal level. States are probably somewhere 12 to 15 [percent of GDP]. Haven't looked that recently. And as Lord Acton pointed out, you know, power corrupts. Yeah, government is power. That's what I mean. That is really the definition of government is power. (43:41–43:44)

CLAIM

Asserts that state government spending is between 12% and 15% of GDP.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Ron Johnson

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“Your dollar you held in 2019 is only worth 80 cents.”
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“A dollar you held in 1998 is worth 51 cents [today].”
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“We spent something like 5 or 6 trillion dollars globally on climate change...we haven't bent the needle.”
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“In 1930, the federal government spent about 3.5% of our GDP.”
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“Now we're spending close to 24% [of GDP] at the federal level.”
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“Our forefathers... entered World War II spending about 11.7%, ramped it up to 41% during the war.”
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“The first goal of this Republican budget reconciliation should be don't add to the deficit.”
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“The first goal of this Republican budget reconciliation should be don't add to the deficit.”
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“President [Biden] is determined to not keep funding the deep state at buying levels, return to a reasonable pre-pandemic level.”
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“You don't defeat the deep state by continuing to fund it at Biden's levels.”
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“I don't think President Trump, he's not focused on reducing spending.”
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“I can't be pressured by President Trump.”
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“Obamacare is now called Medicaid expansion.”
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“Other mandatory hit well over $2 trillion during COVID.”
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“Last fiscal year was about $1.3 trillion. This year will be over a trillion.”
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“We don't have a balanced budget requirement like states do.”
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“The appropriation committees were literally set up because the authorized committees were big spenders.”
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“Simpson Bowles didn't work. The Budget Control act didn't work.”
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“The 10-year deficit projected by CBO is $22 trillion, averaging $2.2 trillion a year.”
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“The CBO projection I'm looking at assumes we're going to gain another $4 trillion from increasing taxes.”
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“Going from 37 to $59 trillion in debt is a rosy scenario.”
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“They've just transferred [federal spending] into mandatory spending.”
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“We are operating for this fiscal year under a continuing resolution.”
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“The answer was something like $6.3 trillion because we had gone from 4.4 trillion in 2019 up to 6.5.”
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“We're down here about 3, somewhere around 3% [interest rate on government debt].”
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“Clinton, if you use that process, go from 1.7 to 5.5 trillion.”
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“Obama would be 6.2 [trillion], Trump's 2019, 6.5 [trillion].”
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“Show me a member of Congress who ever lost the election because they spent too much money.”
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“We did not simplify the tax code in 2017.”
Senator Ron Johnson Discusses Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Reconciliation Challenges | Uploaded May 25, 2025 | 23:43-23:46
“I think it's insane that we've been shutting down coal fired electrical generation.”
Senator Ron Johnson Discusses Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Reconciliation Challenges | Uploaded May 25, 2025 | 25:26-25:31
“Congress was oblivious and ignorant of all this waste, fraud, and abuse.”
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“The last time I looked at Doge's website, they were up to 165 things higher than that.”
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“President Trump in his first administration sent up a $15 billion decision package.”
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“Any Republican that voted would vote against the rescission package ought to pay a pretty huge political price.”
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“The hard number accepted by and expected by a lot of senators...is $6.5 trillion of spending in 2026.”
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“We've gone from 4400 billion to 7000 billion dollars worth of spending.”
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“Right now we're expected to spend about 7.3 trillion next year.”
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“So that implies about $8 trillion in deficit reduction rather than 1.5 trillion that the House has in their meager House reconciliation…”
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“We went from 4.4 to it'll be 7.3 next year.”
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“The coalition they have made up of the media, primarily social media companies, that type of thing, their relentlessness of letting all…”
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“I think they do cheat in voting.”
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“As government grows, your freedom recedes.”
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“As government grows, you get more and more people dependent on it.”
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“I put together a video... President Trump at the State of the Union saying he was going to balance the federal budget.”
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“I first focus on spending. Okay, 89.3 trillion.”
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“That represents the just unprecedented, other than World War II increase in spending from 2019 of 58 to 60%.”
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“By 1948, they were down to 11.4%.”
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“We also have to focus on economic growth through the private sector, not fueled by government deficit spending.”
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“Prior to the pandemic, we weren't, we really weren't matching even the CBO's, you know, downgrade of revenue coming in after the TCGA.”
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“This is what we have to do to win the majority, maintain the majority in the house in 2027.”
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“It's developing a process that will achieve, maintain a pre pandemic level spending, you know, just a lower spending level.”
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“I would love to take that Doge team, those geniuses with all their AI and their computer skills, and get 100, 200 forensic auditors and just…”
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“OMB said we don't have enough time.”
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“Senate leadership's the only one that's been fully behind what I'm trying to do here.”
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