Sen. Ron Johnson hoping for Democratic ‘gridlock’ on reconciliation package

As Democrats continue to feud internally over the content and price tag of President Biden’s proposed $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said on Sunday he hopes the disagreements eventually result in the legislation’s defeat. 

“I hope for Democrat gridlock,” Johnson said on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “Oftentimes, in Washington, D.C., gridlock is the better alternative, but when it’s Democrat gridlock, pray for it. I hope that’s exactly what happens.”

Asked about legislative negotiations, Sen. Ron Johnson says he’s praying for gridlock pic.twitter.com/xHuYtNpXy4

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 17, 2021

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) previously set a deadline of Oct. 31 for passing Biden’s agenda, which includes a bipartisan infrastructure bill that the Senate approved in August. 

Last week, Pelosi said in a letter that it would be “essential that difficult decisions must be made very soon” in an effort to keep that timeline in place. In order to do so, Pelosi will have to unite feuding groups in her caucus, including progressive lawmakers who are pushing for more ambitious policies and cautious moderate leaders who have voiced concerns about spending and government overreach.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a notable moderate vote, said he would support a $1.5 trillion plan, a price that Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) has said was “not going to happen.”

Recent polling from CBS News and YouGov showed that while a slight majority of Americans approve of the Biden administration’s Build Back Better plan, just 10 percent of respondents said they knew “a lot of the specifics” of the plan. Instead, the survey seemed to indicate a fixation on the package’s price, with 59 percent of respondents saying they had heard about the original $3.5 trillion price tag.