Mike Johnson: July 4 target for 'big, beautiful bill' still in place

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday confirmed that Republicans still hoped to pass the "big, beautiful bill" by July 4 as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., wages a high-profile campaign for deeper spending cuts.

"I believe, we can still meet that. It’s up to the Senate, the bill’s in the Senate’s hands now. But I spoke with Leader Thune as recently as last night, he’s feeling very optimistic," Johnson said, according to Politico.

He further indicated that he had told the Republican lawmakers in the upper chamber not to make substantial changes to the bill due to the narrow margin in the lower chamber.

"It took us a long time to get there. And we don’t want to upset that balance too much. So they’re putting their fingerprints on it," Johnson said.

Paul, for his part, has vocally criticized the bill over its impact on the deficit, leading to public condemnation from senior White House officials, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who on Monday accused him of "trying to cut funding for deportations and border security" while "ICE officers are battling violent mobs in Los Angeles."