WASHINGTON — Kentucky’s two Republican senators ended the year’s legislative session about as far apart as they began it.
On one side of the U.S. Capitol this week, Mitch McConnell stood before the press and heaped praise on the $1.7 trillion government spending bill, saying it fulfilled all of the party’s priorities.
On the other side, Rand Paul posed before the 4,155 pages of text with multicolored warning signs blaring of “hazardous debt” that will threaten the country’s solvency and security.
“An abomination,” Paul called it just as McConnell declared he was proud of it.
McConnell won out in the face-off in that his support for the giant “omnibus” – which funds the government through next September – got his party to provide 18 votes on top of the Democrats’ 50.
But Paul’s view actually stood more popular within the Republican conference. Twenty-nine of 50 Republicans – a majority – voted no. Three Republican senators did not vote.
As always, the funding bill is one that had to pass lest the government would cease to function, an outcome that leaders of either party strive to avoid, especially around the holidays.
But the vote encapsulates just how differently McConnell and Paul see the government’s priorities.
McConnell argued that the package is a victory primarily for the increase in defense spending.
It includes $45 billion in assistance to Ukraine, as it continues to try to fight off Russia’s 10-month old invasion.
McConnell called Russia’s defeat the “number one priority for the United States right now according to most Republicans.”
The pronouncement sparked anger and mockery from the right, including Paul, who never mentioned McConnell by name, but was directly critical of Republican “leadership.”
“As Republican leadership likes to say, ‘Oh but it’s a win, it’s a big win, we’re getting $45 billion for the military … Are we at risk being invaded by a foreign power if we don’t put $45 billion into the military or we at more risk by adding to a $31 trillion dollar debt?,” Paul asked during a press conference outlining his omnibus opposition.
McConnell told NBC News that when he met with President Joe Biden last month, he drew a line in the sand.
The GOP leader said he told Biden that his party had already spent $700 billion on domestic priorities and that only defense should see an increase.
It appears that outline is what ultimately held and delivered Republican votes.
But Paul’s position still seems more in line with the base of the party.
The junior senator took his defeat in good spirits, releasing his own version of “ 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
“Now McConnell. Now Schumer. Now Pelosi and Vixen. On Biden. On Stupid. On Dumber and Bltizen,” he said, dressed in a red Christmas blazer before a tree and fireplace. “To Debt. To Bankruptcy. To Free Money for All! Now Dash Away, Dash Away, More Cash for All.”
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