Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., reportedly will vote no on the Senate's updated budget bill due to a proposed increase in the debt limit.
"We roll around to 2026 elections, what are they going to say, Oh Democrats, you know, they're for borrow and spend. But now the Republicans will have joined the Democrats in being for borrow and spend," Paul told reporters on Tuesday. "The bill is inadequate in the sense that it is not going to turn the tide on the deficit."
Paul told NBC's Kristen Welker on Sunday that he was considering support for President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" if changes were made to the planned $5 trillion debt ceiling hike. "Congress is awful with money, and so you should give them a more restricted credit line, not an expansive one," he said on "Meet the Press."
"Yes, the debt ceiling has to go up, but what I've said is it ought to go up three months at a time and then we should have a renewed debate about the debt," Paul said. "We shouldn't put it up $5 trillion and wait two years, go through another election cycle and be almost toward the end of the Trump administration and say, Oh, whoops, we've added a bunch of debt."
Paul has had a complicated relationship with Trump in the first months of the president's second term. In late May, Paul offered high praise for Trump's remarks in the Middle East when he declared that the era of America engaged in nation-building is over.
Yet Paul's relentless criticism of Trump's bill has earned him no favors even if he aligns with the president on most foreign policy issues.
Earlier in the month, Trump blasted Paul on Truth Social for having "very little understanding" of the president's budget plan and proceeded to get personal, adding, "He loves voting 'NO' on everything, he thinks it's good politics, but it's not. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can't stand him. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!"
The bill passed the GOP-controlled House of Representative in May by one vote, forcing the Republicans in the Senate to negotiate priorities knowing they won't get any support from Democrats. Paul clarified to reporters earlier in the week that the White House won't need his vote to pass to bill.
"If I am the deciding vote, they'll negotiate. If I'm not, they won't," he said. "So far, they've been sending their attack dogs after me, and that's not a great persuasion technique."
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.