Rand Paul vows to filibuster budget deal
DENVER — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said he would filibuster a bipartisan budget bill currently making its way through the Capitol.
“This is exactly the opposite of what every conservative Republican in America wants, and I’m going to do everything I can to stop it,” the Republican presidential candidate told The Hill.
“I will filibuster it, I’ll delay it, I’ll shout about it. I’m going to talk about it until I’m tired of talking about it and until people wake up and say this is wrong for the country,” he added.
{mosads}The House is poised Wednesday to approve a two-year government funding bill that raises the spending caps set in 2011 while avoiding a potential default on U.S. loans.
The Senate must approve the legislation before it heads to President Obama’s desk.
The legislation’s discretionary spending increase — by $112 billion over the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years — is drawing criticism from many Republican advocacy groups.
“I think raising the debt ceiling with no limit is absurd, wrong, a recipe for unlimited spending,” Paul told The Hill following a campaign rally in Denver, a day before the third GOP presidential debate Wednesday night.
“I think busting the budget caps is exactly the wrong thing we should do,” he added. “We should use the leverage of the debt ceiling to try to get spending reform, not give up on spending reform.”
Paul was asked about other GOP presidential candidates such as Ben Carson, who has said he would focus on debt ceiling issue earlier in the process in order to avoid risking a potential default.
“I’m going to do exactly what I said,” Paul said, adding that he was threatening to filibuster the legislation “because I think the number one threat to the country is the debt.”
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