Rand Paul drags out passage of $95 billion foreign aid bill, putting him at odds with Mitch McConnell

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) pledged to slow down the $95 billion foreign aid bill in the Senate, launching a talking filibuster in protest over the legislation on Monday.

The Kentucky senator’s efforts to slow down the bill, which includes funding for Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region, comes as the other Kentucky senator, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), puts his full weight on the other side of the debate, pushing to give more aid to Ukraine for its war against Russia.

Paul openly admonished the Senate GOP leader for working with Democrats to provide more aid to Ukraine, arguing it is “ludicrous” to say U.S. security is affected by the situation in the country. 

“Open the champagne, pop the cork. The Senate Democrat leader and the Republican leader are on their way to Kyiv. They’ve got $60 billion they’re bringing. I don’t know if it will be cash in pallets, but they’re taking your money to Kyiv,” Paul said on the floor Monday.

McConnell has been one of the most vocal Republican supporters of providing additional aid to Ukraine, putting him at the center of criticism from some GOP colleagues who have said he’s out of step with the GOP electorate.

“From halfway around the world in the Indo-Pacific, our friends have made it clear that in the Ukrainian people’s fight, they see their own future,” McConnell said on Sunday. “Our allies and partners are hoping that the indispensable nation, the leader of the free world, has the resolve to continue. And our adversaries are hoping for something quite different.”

Paul’s efforts to slow down the foreign aid bill come after it cleared an important procedural hurdle on Sunday, inching closer to final passage of the legislation after months of delays.

It is still unclear when the final passage vote will take place, as Paul and Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), JD Vance (R-OH), and others are threatening to use additional procedural maneuvers to drag out the process further. 

Consideration of the aid legislation comes after Senate Republicans blocked a broader bill that would have included a bipartisan border bill with the foreign aid earlier last week. Originally, Senate Republicans had demanded border security be part of the bill for foreign aid but then rejected the deal negotiated by a group of bipartisan lawmakers following criticism from former President Donald Trump and House Republicans. 

“We have no time to discuss the invasion coming in from the southern border. We haven’t had one minute; we haven’t had an amendment,” Paul said during a nearly hourlong speech on the Senate floor on Monday.

He continued, “We have several amendments that would put border security back in the bill, and some on the other side, I love this — they have said, ‘Well, because you oppose the bill, you don’t deserve to have amendments.’”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, said there had been no agreement on adding amendments to the bill on Monday afternoon. 

“In order for that to occur, we would need the cooperation of all members, and we would need to have time agreements because the number of amendments is considerable,” Collins said. “Unless objections are withdrawn, it’s going to be very difficult to have the robust amendment process that most of us want to have.”

Paul, an ardent opponent of American military interventionism, also urged senators to consider the effect the aid could have on the national debt. If the bill passes, $60 billion would be sent to Ukraine, and $14 billion would be directed to Israel. 

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) gets on an elevator after giving a speech on the Senate floor. (Graeme Jennings / Washington Examiner)

“Only two-thirds of the spending in Washington is paid for, an entire third of it is borrowed, yet they want to send borrowed money to a foreign country? Shouldn’t we try to take care of our own country first?” Paul asked. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urged senators to advance the legislation quickly after 18 Republicans supported advancing the bill on Sunday.  

“By now, we have taken numerous procedural votes that prove beyond doubt that there’s strong support behind this bill. It’s time to finish the job and get this critical bill passed,” Schumer said on the Senate floor on Monday. “Protecting democracy is not for the faint of heart. Sometimes, it requires us to make difficult choices in this chamber. But that is precisely what the American people sent us here to do.”

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Due to Paul’s objections, the Senate was forced to work through the weekend to advance the bill because there was no agreement to speed up the time frame. The Senate is expected to hold two more procedural votes on Monday night but likely won’t be able to move forward to final passage until Wednesday. 

Even if the bill passes in the Senate, it’s still unclear what exactly will happen in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will have to decide how to handle the bill a little over 100 days into the job.