Sen. Rand Paul criticizes lastminute budget process.
WASHINGTON — With Congress teetering on the brink of its third government shutdown in three months, Sen. Rand Paul still hasn’t seen the details of a new budget bill that’s likely to be 1,000 pages long — and he’s not pleased.
That matters because it was Paul, R-Ky., who last month single-handedly prevented Congress from speedily moving ahead on a sweeping budget deal, triggering a short government shutdown as he protested his own Republican Party’s deficit spending.
This time, Paul hasn’t yet decided on whether he’ll seek to slow the measure, but he’s clearly unhappy with the closed door talks, telling McClatchy in an interview this is a “rotten, terrible, no good way to run your government.”
In two conversations with McClatchy, Paul said he’d make up his mind after he sees the $1.3 trillion spending plan, which Republican leaders had hoped to produce last week but were working round the clock with Democrats to finish Wednesday. A $1.3 trillion bill was crafted late Wednesday by House and Senate negotiators.
“You have to know what’s in it,” Paul said. “Really, should we be looking at 1,000 page bills with 24 hours to decide what’s in them? It’s really not a good way to run your government.”
Paul infuriated fellow Republicans last month when he took to the Senate floor to decry a spending bill. He told McClatchy this time he’s still incensed by his party’s willingness to bust spending caps.