Speaker Mike Johnson appeared to put the brakes on rising talk from President Donald Trump and Elon Musk about sending checks to American taxpayers with savings from the ongoing cuts from the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
“Politically, that would be great for us, send everybody a check,” Johnson said in an interview at CPAC. “But if you think about our core principles,” he added, noting the growing national debt: “I think we need to pay down the credit card.”
Johnson again cheered Musk’s efforts to slash the federal government.
“What Elon and the team are doing is what Congress has not had the ability to do,” Johnson said. “They are exposing this massive fraud, waste and abuse that we have not been unable to uncover because the deep state has hidden it from us.”
Johnson also weighed in on Trump’s growing riff with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid Russia’s war.
Johnson said it was “very important” for Ukraine to hold an election, amid criticism from Trump as U.S. officials hold talks with Russia and Saudi Arabia.
“What Trump’s trying to do is do a level set, put the conditions in place for that negotiation to happen,” Johnson said. “And we got to allow him to do what he does. Remember, he wrote the Art of the Deal. He knows what he’s doing.”
Asked about another U.S. funding package for Ukraine, Johnson replied: “Look there’s no appetite for that.”
