On Thursday afternoon Sen.
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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has spent much of the week telling anyone who’ll listen how much he hates the bipartisan budget compromise. Is he referring to the GOP leaders, Ryan and McConnell, in both houses of Congress?
The Republican-controlled Congress must raise the federal borrowing limit by November 3, or risk Washington ending up in default.
Fiscal conservatives have balked at the increased spending, but the deal is widely expected to pass. Each tweet since has been accompanied by the hashtag #StandWithRand, which emerged during Paul’s 13-hour filibuster in 2013 against US drone policies under the Obama administration. Pretty much no matter what Paul does, he can’t derail this bill.
“We will find out who the true conservatives in this town are”, Paul said as he planted himself in the chamber and vowed to talk until the scheduled 1 a.m. vote Friday.
Hours later, when Fox News reported on the thwarted protest, it played back a few of Paul’s speech – after playing more of Cruz’s. That’s when things will get interesting.
Cloture is the procedural move that requires 60 votes to end debate on legislation. Cloture will pass and then, theoretically, a 30-hour debate on the bill itself would start. If he’s seen as jeopardizing his state office (or the other Kentucky senator’s position of authority) because he’s too stubborn or proud to admit that he doesn’t have a chance at the White House, that’s not going to go over well with the people he’s already indebted to politically. A filibuster is an effort to delay the vote and extend the debate and is totally useless if waged during the two day waiting period on the cloture petition. Meaning, unless his peers give him time, Paul will only have one hour to speak beyond his pre-midnight gabfest.
Senate leaders expect a filibuster of the deal by any number of senators and are building in time and procedures to get around them.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ken.) and Texas Senate candidate Don Huffines hold hands during Huffines’ campaign rally on February 7, 2014 in Dallas. Ted Cruz, slammed the deal but didn’t announce a formal filibuster.
“John Boehner’s golden parachute will certainly cement his legacy, but it is a slap in the face to conservatives”, he said in a statement. Rand Paul visited Colorado ahead of the GOP debate to reach out to college students – which he considers the one of his strongest bases of support.
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According to Politico, members of Paul’s campaign were not the only ones infuriated with the green room assignments. Paul also only raised .5 million in the third quarter, compared with $6.9 million in the second quarter. He has been fending off rumors that he might soon drop out.
