Johnson has voiced skepticism at Trump’s tariffs and previously said the United States should not count on the revenue when crafting his “big, beautiful bill.” But he told reporters Thursday he might be freshly receptive to them as further spending cuts become unlikely in the Senate.
“It’s not codified right now, but if we hit a sticking point, that’s maybe not a bad place to go in terms of assuring ourselves that we have reduced deficits,” Johnson said.
The tariffs would shave $2.8 trillion off the deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office, but have faced court challenges and could be lifted as part of trade talks.
For that reason, Johnson has insisted that Congress focus on “spending, spending, spending” and has refused to give his vote on Trump’s tax bill without a plan to bring the deficit back down to pre-pandemic levels.
Yet Johnson’s shift on tariffs suggests he is entertaining ways to get comfortable with the legislation without that commitment. He is still pressing for a “forcing mechanism” to revisit the deficit once the megabill passes. He told the Washington Examiner he has a soft agreement with the White House to set up a budget review panel.
“I’d like to see it pass, but it takes some time. It takes process,” Johnson said in a brief interview.
Johnson cited a meeting in Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s office this week while explaining that he could accept the passage of some “base” level of tariffs into law.
He reasoned that inflation had not spiked since Trump rolled out — and then paused — sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs in April. Trump also has separate duties on steel, aluminum, cars, and more.
“I really don’t want to fund the deep state, but I also don’t want to have these massive deficits,” Johnson said. “So I’m very open, I’m very flexible.”
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His policy shift came ahead of a Thursday trip to the White House for an event touting the “big, beautiful bill.” Johnson also met with the president earlier in the week, part of a larger effort to win over fiscal hawks opposing the legislation.
“I like the president. I respect him. I certainly respect how difficult his job is,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to make it more difficult, but we can’t keep mortgaging our young kids’ future, and he understands that about me as well.”
