Rand Paul Offers Trump an Offramp As War Against His ‘Opposite of Conservative’ Budget Bill Escalates
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) offered President Donald Trump an offramp on his “Big Beautiful” budget bill on Newsmax Tuesday night, while continuing to go to war against the sweeping legislation he called “the opposite of conservative.”
“You’ve been very popular these last couple of days. I want to start with the fact that you don’t have Elon Musk on your side, which was a really big tweet today. I think it applies a lot of the pressure that you’re trying to apply,” began host Rob Schmidt, adding:
He calls the bill an abomination. What specifically has you so turned off about this bill? This morning you essentially said you want to cut six percent from basically every part of the budget, but what is it about this bill you don’t like so much?
“Well, let’s start with what I like about the bill. What I like about the bill is the tax cuts. I voted for them in 2017. I wish they were permanent. And that’s a big part of the bill, and if that’s all the bill was, I’m not just a yes—I’m a hell yes. I’m all in for that. I’m for spending cuts,” Paul replied, adding:
I don’t think there are enough spending cuts in it, and I’m worried about that. I wish there were more. But I still would support the tax cuts and some spending cuts if they weren’t forcing conservatives to vote to raise the debt ceiling $5 trillion. That concerns me because when you extend the debt ceiling, this will be the largest increase in the debt ceiling ever. This will be the first time that Republicans alone will be responsible for the debt. The debt will be basically owned by Republicans. And I’m not for borrowing $5 trillion over the next two years.
“I’ve told the president if they will separate the debt ceiling vote out, they very well may have my vote on this. But so far the negotiations are slow—they seem to be picking up a little bit in the last couple of days, so I’m still hopeful that we can come to an agreement,” Paul concluded, offering Trump an offramp. The bill passed the House in May, but faces a difficult future in the Senate as fiscal conservatives oppose it.
Paul shared the interview on X on Wednesday, writing, “If the bill were solely about making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, I wouldn’t be a yes; I’d be a hell yes. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality with this bill. It includes the largest increase of the debt ceiling ever and will have the United States borrowing $5T over the next 2 years. This bill is the opposite of conservative, and we should not pass it.”
Paul has publicly feuded with Trump in recent weeks over the bill. “Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can’t stand him. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!” Trump wrote on Truth Social this week, attacking Paul. Paul hit back later, saying, “Kentuckians sent me here to fight reckless debt. I will not support a $5T increase to our deficit.”
Watch the clip above via Newsmax.
