Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is standing opposed to the GOP budget due to its lack of budget cuts, and the rest of the GOP is none too happy about it, according to Politico.
Paul is standing opposed to the bill as it doesn’t eliminate $43 billion in overseas war funding that blows past the cap set by Congress in 2011.
“I’ve told them I’m a ‘yes’ if they’ll not exceed the budget caps,” Paul said. “If leadership is unwilling to compromise with somebody who is concerned about the debt, then they deserve to lose.”
“These are the people who come to our caucus every day and say: ‘Oh the budget doesn’t matter, it’s just a vehicle to get to taxes,’” Paul added. “And yet when I ask for something they aren’t willing to do it.”
As Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) is out indefinitely, the GOP can only stand to lose one vote before the bill fails. As Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is currently undecided — he wants to add to defense spending — the budget is already in danger of failing.
“We have to resolve the defense issue,” McCain said. “We have to have sufficient spending for defense. More young men and women in the military are dying today because of a lack of readiness, training, equipment, and funding. That has got to stop.”
Paul’s stances have once again put him in the crosshairs of fellow GOP members, especially after he called both McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) out on Twitter for “busting budget caps.”
Senators McCain and Graham are torpedoing the budget by insisting on busting the budget caps for more spending.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 17, 2017
Neither Graham and McCain responded to Paul’s tweet. Graham responded on Twitter by saying Paul had “bad info” and blamed him for the GOP’s Obamacare replacement bill, which Paul had called out as “Obamacare Lite.”
Getting more bad info @RandPaul.
Don’t screw up #TaxReform now.
You already saved #Obamacare by trashing #GrahamCassidy-Heller-Johnson. https://t.co/QEJWuvUn2z
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 17, 2017
Graham sent out a second tweet saying that the bill doesn’t “affect statutory spending gaps.”
Point #2: The Budget resolution doesn’t affect statutory spending caps.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 17, 2017
McCain was a bit more biting in his comment.
“I don’t pay any attention to Senator Paul,” said McCain according to Bloomberg. “Nor does hardly anybody else.”
Both Paul and McCain have left themselves room for negotiation, but both want the exact opposite outcome. The issue must be resolved by Thursday when the vote is set to take place, and it will be interesting to see which way the Senate will lean in order to obtain the vote of one or the other.
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