Wisconsin Senator Not Trying to Persuade Oshkosh Defense to Re-Locate Jobs

Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 -- 10:01 AM

(AP) Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said he’s not fighting to persuade Oshkosh Defense to locate 1,000 jobs in Wisconsin rather than South Carolina, providing an opening for his Democratic challengers to accuse the two-term incumbent of being out of touch with the needs of his state.

Johnson told reporters at a news conference Saturday that he was not trying to get Oshkosh Defense to put the jobs in his hometown of Oshkosh as part of a multibillion-dollar contract the company won last year to build new delivery vehicles for the U.S. Postal Service.

The company announced in June that the vehicles would be built in Spartanburg, South Carolina. “It’s not like we don’t have enough jobs here in Wisconsin,” Johnson said Saturday.

“The biggest problem we have in Wisconsin right now is employers not being able to find enough workers.” Johnson also said that he “wouldn’t insert myself to demand that anything be manufactured here using federal funds in Wisconsin.”

“Obviously, I’m supportive of it,” he said. “But in the end, I think when using federal tax dollars, you want to spend those in the most efficient way and if it’s more efficient, more effective to spend those in other states, I don’t have a real problem with that.”

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