Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) voiced his opposition to the new omnibus spending bill, arguing that Republicans should take a stand against what he sees as Democratic overspending.
In an appearance on Fox Business’s Kudlow, Paul decried his Republican colleagues in strong terms. Congressional Republicans, he argued, are “emasculated” and have ceded power to the Democrats for no gain to themselves.
“But the other thing is, 41 votes would stop the big spending. If 41 [Senate Republicans] said no and held our ground until there was a compromise, we could force Democrats to reduce spending,” Paul said. “We have completely and totally abdicated the power of the purse. Republicans are emasculated. They have no power, and they are unwilling to gain that power back.”
CONGRESS REACHES DEAL TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, NEGOTIATORS SAY
He went on to detail how exactly Republicans could gain power — if they gather the will to.
“The only way they can get [that power back]: Divide the spending into 12 bills and then decide to hold one of them hostage or two of them hostage. And then apply policy changes in the House,” he continued. “But they’ve got to do it. They’ve got to capture this, and we’d have to do the budget the way it’s supposed to be. Budget — 12 appropriation bills, then try to attach some policy like removing the 87,000 IRS agents from the IRS budget.”
“When we try to do it in one bill, Republicans don’t have the intestinal fortitude. They always collapse, and they fear shutting government down, so no policy objectives ever get added,” he added.
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Appropriations negotiators Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) announced the creation of a framework for an omnibus spending deal on Tuesday, something that has proven controversial among many Republicans. Paul was joined by the “Breakfast Club,” a group of Republican senators led by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), in opposition to the plan.
