Sen. Ron Johnson

I just asked my colleagues, hey, anybody know how much we spent last year in total? Dead silence. I went out to the Washington press corps. By which you meant what we spent last year. In total, the federal government, what the federal government spent in total. Just the bottom line number. If anybody knew, they didn't volunteer.

And I went out to the Washington Press Corps, asked them the same question. And one of the reporters said, well, it's over a trillion dollars. Now, that's just discretionary spending. That's about 25% of the budget. I mean, total spending. The answer is, I think, $6.3 trillion. Understand, the federal government is the largest financial entity in the world.

And I went out to the Washington Press Corps, asked them the same question. And one of the reporters said, well, it's over a trillion dollars. Now, that's just discretionary spending. That's about 25% of the budget. I mean, total spending. The answer is, I think, $6.3 trillion. Understand, the federal government is the largest financial entity in the world.

And I went out to the Washington Press Corps, asked them the same question. And one of the reporters said, well, it's over a trillion dollars. Now, that's just discretionary spending. That's about 25% of the budget. I mean, total spending. The answer is, I think, $6.3 trillion. Understand, the federal government is the largest financial entity in the world.

We, in theory, are the 535 members of the board of directors. And nobody really knows in total how much the federal government spent because we never talk about it. And... As that relates to the current— What a weird thing not to talk about, since that's your job. But that's how it's been set up. Discretionary, which we appropriate, and then mandatory. That just gets spent.

We, in theory, are the 535 members of the board of directors. And nobody really knows in total how much the federal government spent because we never talk about it. And... As that relates to the current— What a weird thing not to talk about, since that's your job. But that's how it's been set up. Discretionary, which we appropriate, and then mandatory. That just gets spent.

We, in theory, are the 535 members of the board of directors. And nobody really knows in total how much the federal government spent because we never talk about it. And... As that relates to the current— What a weird thing not to talk about, since that's your job. But that's how it's been set up. Discretionary, which we appropriate, and then mandatory. That just gets spent.

It's on automatic pilot. So it's out of sight, it's out of mind, and it's completely out of control.

It's on automatic pilot. So it's out of sight, it's out of mind, and it's completely out of control.

It's on automatic pilot. So it's out of sight, it's out of mind, and it's completely out of control.

So Congress has written laws like the Social Security law, then Medicare and Medicaid, and they call those entitlements. So they're not annually appropriated. It's just you set up a law saying if you qualify, you get X number of dollars. So it's on automatic pilot.

So Congress has written laws like the Social Security law, then Medicare and Medicaid, and they call those entitlements. So they're not annually appropriated. It's just you set up a law saying if you qualify, you get X number of dollars. So it's on automatic pilot.

So Congress has written laws like the Social Security law, then Medicare and Medicaid, and they call those entitlements. So they're not annually appropriated. It's just you set up a law saying if you qualify, you get X number of dollars. So it's on automatic pilot.

No, none. You qualify, you get it. So whatever it takes. What has happened over the years is in addition to Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, they've slid what should be, in my mind, discretionary spending into mandatory. And so I'm the guy that pointed out the conference.

No, none. You qualify, you get it. So whatever it takes. What has happened over the years is in addition to Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, they've slid what should be, in my mind, discretionary spending into mandatory. And so I'm the guy that pointed out the conference.

No, none. You qualify, you get it. So whatever it takes. What has happened over the years is in addition to Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, they've slid what should be, in my mind, discretionary spending into mandatory. And so I'm the guy that pointed out the conference.

Again, do you guys realize in 2019, other mandatory, again, not Social Security, not Medicare, not Medicaid, other mandatory, pretty well runs the gamut of other appropriation accounts. That was $642 billion. Last year, fiscal year 2024, that was $1.3 trillion. This year, it's a little over a trillion. And that's pretty much, as far as the eye can see, according to CBO, a trillion dollars.

Again, do you guys realize in 2019, other mandatory, again, not Social Security, not Medicare, not Medicaid, other mandatory, pretty well runs the gamut of other appropriation accounts. That was $642 billion. Last year, fiscal year 2024, that was $1.3 trillion. This year, it's a little over a trillion. And that's pretty much, as far as the eye can see, according to CBO, a trillion dollars.

Again, do you guys realize in 2019, other mandatory, again, not Social Security, not Medicare, not Medicaid, other mandatory, pretty well runs the gamut of other appropriation accounts. That was $642 billion. Last year, fiscal year 2024, that was $1.3 trillion. This year, it's a little over a trillion. And that's pretty much, as far as the eye can see, according to CBO, a trillion dollars.

So, again, total discretionary spending is about $1.7 trillion. But they've literally slid about a trillion dollars now ongoing of other mandatory or what should be discretionary into what they call now other mandatory spending. A trillion dollars. And I don't think anybody was really aware of that either.