Profile in Courage – Sen. Ron Johnson

For a decade, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) has protected taxpayers and been at the forefront of the fight for government accountability and limited government. Sen. Johnson’s advocacy for smaller, more responsive bureaucracy began during the Obama administration when he led the fight for less red tape and tried to rein in runaway deficit spending. Now, as America faces an economic crisis that dwarfs the last recession, Sen. Johnson is once again proving that sensible, good government proposals are possible even during times of chaos and calamity. Over the past couple of months, the lawmaker has been fighting the good fight to introduce some much-needed accountability to the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service (USPS). And for continuing to fight for taxpayers and consumers across the country, Sen. Ron Johnson is absolutely a Profile in Courage.

Unlike many currently in Congress, Sen. Johnson wasn’t eager to leap into the political fray until relatively late in life. His Senate website recounts, “In July of 1979, Ron and [his wife] Jane moved to Oshkosh to start a business with Jane’s brother. The company -PACUR- began producing plastic sheet for packaging and printing applications. From operating the equipment, to keeping the company books, and selling its products, Ron has been involved in every function of the business.”

But following the 2008 election of Barack Obama, and the disconcerting upswing in federal spending that followed, Johnson knew that he had to do something to keep the federal government from spiraling out of control. On November 2, 2010, Johnson defeated then-incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Russ Feingold and was elected to the U.S. Senate to serve Wisconsin. Sen. Johnson hit the ground running, pointing out the failures of stimulus spending and opposing efforts to further “stimulate” the economy. The lawmaker was an early, key proponent of the “cut, cap, and balance” approach, which would’ve tethered federal expenditures to 18 percent of Gross Domestic Product and ensured balanced budgets for years to come.

In addition to advocating for bold, comprehensive policy reforms, Sen. Johnson has also been proactive in investigating irregularities and transparency lapses across the federal government. Whenever contractors who benefited from “stimulus” funds cheated on their taxes, Sen. Johnson was there to help investigate and hold the responsible parties accountable. The lawmaker has also pushed agencies to be responsive to their inspector generals (IGs) and implement their cost saving recommendations. In response to a letter from Sen. Johnson and now Senate president pro tempore Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Department of Transportation admitted in 2015 that it had more than 600 unresolved recommendations from their IG that, if addressed, would result in more than $1 billion in savings.

But the biggest test – and affirmation – of Sen. Johnson’s leadership came in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic put unprecedented strain on taxpayers and the federal government. In the fast-moving effort to respond to the outbreak, federal agencies and state governments have lodged massive requests for taxpayer dollars – even if these requests don’t correspond to their actual financial challenges. The USPS in particular wasted little time requesting an exorbitant sum of money from taxpayers. In April, then-Postmaster General Megan Brennan went to Congress to ask for an astounding $89 billion bailout. Sen. Johnson quickly realized the absurdity of this request, which was 25 percent greater than total USPS revenues for FY 2019.

In a June letter to then-Postmaster General Brennan, Sen. Johnson and Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) pointed out that, “USPS revenues were down initially, but they have since recovered dramatically due to an increase in package volume that is apparently rivaling volumes leading up to Christmas.” To better track the financial situation of the USPS, Sen. Johnson has called on America’s mail carrier to release weekly financial reports. These common-sense measures are key to transparency and will help hold agencies such as the USPS accountable to the American people.

And for a decade of protecting taxpayers, Sen. Johnson is truly a Profile in Courage.