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From Washington Examiner: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) says at least four Senate Republicans are opposed to the “big beautiful bill” as the tax bill enters the upper chamber for consideration.
Paul has suggested he won’t vote for the bill because it “explodes” the debt, but said Sunday that he wants to vote for it. President Donald Trump warned Paul against voting against the bill on Saturday.
Paul said he would vote yes if the raised debt ceiling were removed from the bill. It’s unclear who the other three Republicans are who would vote against the bill, but Politico reported other senators with concerns include Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Susan Collins (R-ME).
Politico further reported that Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rick Scott (R-FL) have expressed concerns.
Paul indicate that there are parts of the bill he’s excited about, but he thinks it need modification.
“There are four of us at this point, and I would be very surprised if the bill at least is not modified in a good direction,” Paul said in comments on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday. “Look, I want to vote for it. I’m for the tax cuts … but at the same time, I don’t want to raise the debt ceiling $5 trillion.”
“So, I’ve told him,” Paul continued, “if you take the debt ceiling off the bill, in all likelihood, I can vote for what the agreement is on the rest of the bill, and it doesn’t have to be perfect to my liking. But I can’t be- if I vote for the $5 trillion debt, who’s left in Washington that cares about the debt. We will have lost it. The GOP will own the debt once they vote for this.”
“He needs a vehicle to raise that debt ceiling,” Brennan pointed out. “Otherwise, you have to turn to Democrats to get that done. What was the White House response when you asked that to the President?”
“Historically, the debt ceiling has always gone up and will always go up,” Paul replied. “I’m not proposing that it doesn’t, but the people who should vote for it are the people who vote for the spending. Historically, all the Democrats vote for raising the debt ceiling, and about 15 big government Republicans vote for it. This will be the first time it’s voted on just by Republicans. This will be the first time that Republicans own the debt.”
Paul pointed out that Republicans in general complained about “Bidenomics,” former President Joe Biden’s economic plan, yet the party has voted to keep spending at the same levels.
“In March, we continued, not me, but most Republicans voted to continue the Biden spending levels,” he said. “So you remember the campaign, everybody is talking about Bidenomics and Biden inflation and Biden spending levels. Well, the Republicans all voted to keep the Biden spending levels, and that’s why the deficit this year is going to be $2.2 trillion this year.”
Brennan asked if the spending policy is “bad politics for Republicans,” and pointed out that some Republicans, such as Hawley, believe that changes to Medicaid are bad for America’s working people and politically bad for Republicans.
“I think it was a bad strategy,” Paul said. “I think the tax cuts are good for the economy. When we passed the tax cuts in 2017 the economy grew like gangbusters. We had lowest unemployment historically. It was the great achievement of Trump’s first administration. They should have been satisfied by just doing the tax part of this and not getting involved into the debt part of it.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) says "the math doesn't really add up" on President Trump's "one big, beautiful bill," as the bill's increases in federal spending "exceeds the DOGE cuts."
Paul calls the bill "a vehicle for increasing spending for the military and for the border," and "a… pic.twitter.com/TSakmB7G6M
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 1, 2025
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