Sen. Rand Paul wants to force the Senate to vote on codifying President Donald Trump’s cuts to foreign aid, a potential hitch for Republican leaders working to pass a bill to prevent a government shutdown Friday night.
Paul wants the Senate to vote on an amendment that would cut foreign aid grant funding by 83 percent, which would enact the reductions Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the president’s Department of Government Efficiency are already making. The Kentucky Republican predicts that about half of Republican senators would oppose the amendment, putting them on record against the Trump administration’s work.
“My vote will be an example of how many people support DOGE,” Paul told reporters on Wednesday. “No Democrats, obviously. But on the Republican side, how many people actually would cut any money from foreign aid? I think you’ll be surprised, or maybe you won’t.”
Paul has a reputation for sticking with his threats to drag out debate on funding bills if he doesn’t get his way. He spurred a brief government shutdown in 2018 because Republican leaders denied him a vote to tweak a budget agreement. But he won’t say whether he’d go to the same lengths this week, as GOP leaders try to speed up final passage of the seven-month funding patch House Republicans sent over Tuesday night.
“That’s top-secret,” Paul said.
The Kentucky Republican plans to vote against the funding measure, along with droves of Senate Democrats, who oppose the measure for completely different reasons than the fiscal hawk. Also threatening to drag out debate, Senate Democrats are demanding a vote on a four-week stopgap funding bill as an alternative to the Republican-led measure that would cut non-defense funding by about $13 billion while boosting defense budgets by roughly $6 billion.
