Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky warned that taxpayers face a “disaster” from Senate omnibus spending bills Tuesday.
Paul praised House Speaker Mike Johnson for passing a standalone bill providing $14.5 billion in aid to Israel funded from slashing funding for the Internal Revenue Service. The White House said President Joe Biden would veto the legislation.
“Whether mega or omni, it is a disaster for the taxpayer. The only way we have the power of the purse and the only way we exercise the power of the purse is to have individual appropriation bills,” Paul told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow. “This is what Speaker Johnson was elected to do and I think he is going to do it. I’m proud of him for his first legislation, he singled out, took as an individual bill Israel aid but he is paying for it by reducing the IRS budget. This is the way it should always be, no new spending unless we cancel out some other spending.”
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Congress faces a Nov. 17 deadline to pass a continuing resolution or spending bills to avert a government shutdown. Many Republicans are insisting on spending cuts to address the $32.3 trillion national debt.
Paul took aim at Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky over the plan to bundle spending bill for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and the border. President Joe Biden announced he would seek an aid package for Israel and Ukraine totaling $100 billion during an Oct. 19 night speech from the Oval Office.
“Unfortunately, this is Senator McConnell supporting President Biden and Chuck Schumer. He’s going along with the kitchen soup approach, kitchen sink approach, dump everything into the kitchen sink, Ukraine, Israel, the border, Taiwan, everything into a $100 billion dollar bill,” Paul said. “But realize what Sen. McConnell and Sen. Schumer are doing here. They want an enormous package, over $100 billion and insisting it not be paid for. President Biden is aligned with Sen. McConnell on this, saying it’s unprecedented to ask to pay for something. I say it is about damn time to pay for something around here.”
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The House of Representative elected Johnson as speaker after Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California was removed Oct. 3 on a motion to vacate the chair offered by Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida after McCarthy backed a continuing resolution.
McConnell did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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