Republican Senator Rand Paul threatened to hold up a spending bill in the Senate and move towards a government shutdown unless Congress removes the $6 billion in aid to Ukraine from the legislation.
In a Twitter post, Paul noted he would only allow a vote on the spending stopgap before the September 30 deadline for funding government if Senate leaders remove the eye-watering amount of money earmarked for the war in Ukraine.
“If leadership insists on funding another country’s government at the expense of our own government, all blame rests with their intransigence,” Paul wrote.
To avoid a government shutdown, I will consent to an expedited vote on a clean CR without Ukraine aid on it. If leadership insists on funding another country’s government at the expense of our own government, all blame rests with their intransigence.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) September 28, 2023
Earlier this month, Paul called the Ukrainian leadership as “corrupt” and blasted President Zelensky for visiting Washington DC to “beg for money.”
Paul asked in the Senate, “When will the aid requests end?”
“When will the war end?” Paul demanded.
“Can someone explain what victory looks like?”
These are more than valid and fair questions, given that the American taxpayer is footing the bill.
Paul noted that Zelensky has canceled democracy in his own country.
“They’ve canceled the elections. What kind of democracy has no election?” Paul asked.
“Next year, Zelensky said he’s not going to have an election because it would be inconvenient during the war and would be expensive,” he said.
Paul continued:
“If you don’t have elections, who in the world will be supporting a country that’s not a democracy?”
“They’ve banned the political parties, they’ve invaded churches, they’ve arrested priests,” Paul added.
“So, no, it isn’t a democracy,” Paul said, concluding that “It’s a corrupt regime.”
Earlier in September, Paul voiced his concerns on the war in an op-ed, declaring the federal government should “not be held hostage for Ukraine funding.”
“Today I’m putting congressional leadership & @POTUS on notice that I will oppose any effort to hold the federal government hostage for Ukraine funding,” Paul wrote online.
“I will not consent to expedited passage of any spending measure that provides any more US aid to Ukraine.”
Today I'm putting congressional leadership & @POTUS on notice that I will oppose any effort to hold the federal government hostage for Ukraine funding. I will not consent to expedited passage of any spending measure that provides any more US aid to Ukraine.…
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) September 20, 2023
Paul also noted the $113 billion in Ukraine aid now averages “$6.8 billion per month—or $223 million per day.”
The Senator added that he is against American taxpayers paying their hard-earned money to fund “another endless quagmire” in Ukraine.
“With no clear end in sight, it looks increasingly likely that Ukraine will be yet another endless quagmire funded by the American taxpayer,” Paul wrote.
“That’s why public support for the war is waning. A CNN poll from August shows that most Americans now oppose Congress authorizing additional funding to Ukraine,” he added.
“The Senate leadership of both parties know this. That’s why they are trying to hold the federal government hostage by inserting the $24 billion aid request in a continuing resolution: to force our hand.”
“Either we fund an endless war in Ukraine, or the uniparty will shutdown the federal government and make the American people suffer,” Rand Paul said.
Earlier this week, Democratic Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warned that stationing United States military advisers on the ground would be the “next step of Ukraine War escalation.”
“Have they forgotten how we got embroiled in Vietnam?” RFK Jr. said, linking to an article in Foreign Affairs calling for on-the-ground training:
Establishment journal Foreign Affairs signals the next step of Ukraine War escalation: stationing U.S. military advisors on the ground. Have they forgotten how we got embroiled in Vietnam?https://t.co/1waziqtGf1
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) September 27, 2023
READ: Nikki Haley Blasts Trump’s Anti-war Stance on Ukraine: He’s ‘Weak in the Knees’
