House Speaker Mike Johnson is sounding the alarm over what he calls a troubling push by some Senate Republicans to weaken President Donald Trump’s cornerstone legislation, known as the “Big Beautiful Bill,” by removing key provisions central to the president’s America First agenda.

Appearing on CBS News’ Face The Nation, Johnson criticized efforts within the Republican-led Senate to gut portions of the House-passed bill—particularly measures aimed at curbing judicial overreach by activist judges.

One such provision would restrict the ability of federal courts to issue sweeping nationwide injunctions in individual cases—a growing concern among conservatives who see these legal maneuvers as politically motivated efforts to halt the Trump administration’s reforms.

“Before I let you go, I want to ask you about another provision that was tucked into this bill. Democrats say it is weakening separation of powers and punishing the courts. It’s a specific provision that would restrict a federal court’s power to enforce injunctions with contempt, unless there was a bond attached to it. Sounds really weedy, but it’s causing a lot of outcry. If this might get stripped out in the Senate anyway, why did you bother to stick it in?” CBS host Margaret Brennan asked.

“Well, we bothered to stick it in because that’s our responsibility in Congress. It is about separation of powers. And, right now, you have activist judges, a handful of them around the country, who are abusing that power. They’re issuing these nationwide injunctions. They’re — they’re engaging in political acts from the bench. And that is not what our system is intended for. And people have lost their — their — their faith in our system of justice. We have to restore it. And bringing about a simple reform like that is something that I think everybody should applaud,” Johnson replied.

The Speaker went on to correct what he called a false liberal narrative that the legislation would harm low-income Americans by gutting Medicaid. He forcefully rejected the idea, clarifying that the bill targets rampant fraud, waste, and abuse—not legitimate recipients.

“We have not cut Medicaid, and we have not cut SNAP. What we’re doing, Margaret, is working on fraud, waste and abuse. And everyone in Louisiana and around the country understands that that’s a responsibility of Congress. Just in — in Medicaid, for example, you’ve got 1.4 million illegal aliens receiving those benefits. That is not what Medicaid is intended for. It’s intended for vulnerable populations, for young, single, pregnant women and the elderly and the disabled and people who desperately need those resources. Right now, they’re being drained by fraud, waste and abuse,” Johnson said.

He continued by highlighting the staggering number of able-bodied adults who are drawing on taxpayer-funded programs without contributing to the workforce.

“You’ve got about 4.8 million people on Medicaid right now nationwide who are able-bodied workers, young men, for example, who are not working, who are taking advantage of the system. If you are able to work and you refuse to do so, you are defrauding the system. You’re cheating the system. And no one in the country believes that that’s right,” he said.

Johnson emphasized that encouraging work is not just an economic necessity, but a moral imperative grounded in conservative principles.

“So there’s a — there’s a moral component to what we’re doing. And when you make young men work, it’s good for them, it’s good for their dignity,” he stated.

“What we’re talking about, again, is able-bodied workers, many of whom are refusing to work because they’re gaming the system. And when we make them work, it’ll be better for everybody, a win-win-win for all. By the way, the work requirements, Margaret, is not some onerous, burdensome thing. It’s a minimum of 20 hours a week. You could either be working or be in a job program, a job training program,” he added.

“Or volunteering in your community. This is not some – some onerous thing. This is common sense. And when the American people understand what we are doing here, they applaud it. This is a wildly popular thing, because we have to preserve the programs. What we’re doing is strengthening Medicaid and SNAP so that they can exist, so that they’ll be there for the people that desperately need it the most, and it’s not being taken advantage of,” Johnson concluded.