Rand Paul’s Kabuki Theater Performance Raises The Ire of Fellow Senate Republicans

This week, yet another government shutdown deadline came and went, and this time, Senate Republicans are pointing fingers at one of their own as the cause.

The House had already passed their continuing resolution, and Senate leadership believed they had reached a deal regarding a deal to fund the government and avoid a government shutdown, adding in disaster relief provisions that satisfied the Congressional delegations from Florida and Texas, the states that had been most severely affected by last year’s hurricanes (along with Puerto Rico, whose residents have been fleeing their storm-ravaged island by the hundreds of thousands to Florida).

Senate Republicans expected to be able to vote on their version of the bill Thursday afternoon and send it back to the House for approval, with plenty of time before the midnight deadline. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) office has been sending out a steady stream of press releases this week detailing the terms of the deal and his promises to allow a full debate on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) issue, which had been a stumbling block for Senate Democrats during the last government shutdown.

Then Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) threw a giant wrench into the Senate leadership’s plans. As I wrote Thursday evening:

Senate leadership announced earlier this week they had reached a budget deal…and expected to be able to vote on their version of the bill and send it back to the House, but Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) objected and blocked the vote.

There were efforts earlier this evening to bring Paul back on board, but they failed. According to a top Senate Republican aide with knowledge of the negotiations who spoke to RedState on condition of anonymity, Paul was offered a budget point of order by Senate Republican leadership, which would have allowed him to discuss the bill and propose stripping any provisions to which he objected.

Instead, what Paul wanted was an actual amendment to the bill itself. This was rejected on the grounds that it would have opened up the bill negotiations to a flood of amendments from Senators of both parties, and drive the bill off the shutdown cliff anyway. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has no interest in giving away amendments like Oprah gives away cars.

Essentially what Paul did was a procedure that allowed him to delay the vote for several hours, and force the Senate to miss the midnight deadline. Attempts to persuade Paul failed, and at about 11:00 pm ET, the Senate voted to go into recess until 12:01 am ET Friday morning.

The government officially went into shutdown at midnight and the Senate gaveled back in for their vote. Paul was offered an additional hour to speak regarding his objections to the bill, and he declined, allowing the vote to proceed. Around 1:00 am ET, the Senate took the procedural vote needed for the bill to proceed, clearing the required sixty-vote threshold in a 73-26 vote.

Soon after 1 a.m. Friday, the Senate began a procedural vote on the continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government and the budget agreement. It passed with bipartisan support, 73 – 26. Sixty votes were necessary for it to advance. The actual bill itself only needed a majority vote to pass, and it did, 71-28.

Senate Republicans are understandably annoyed with Paul, who is viewed as single-handedly causing this particular shutdown. Even Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who had been the architect of past government shutdowns, was not bucking leadership on this bill. As RedState reported earlier, Cruz had released a statement on Thursday explaining that while he had serious misgivings about how the bill “unnecessarily balloons the deficit” he would nonetheless “reluctantly vote” for it.

Part of the frustration with Paul is the view that he is right about the issue of spending but wrong in his timing and approach to the problem, according to a top Senate Republican aide who spoke to RedState on condition on anonymity.

The annoyance with Paul was exacerbated by what was viewed as grandstanding: our source pointed out that Paul was offered the budget point of order, which would have given him the time and opportunity to voice his objections without derailing the bill, but he refused. Our source also noted that Paul took time away from the Senate floor to do several cable news hits (we are aware of him appearing on at least Fox News Channel and CNN), instead of continuing to study the bill or discuss his objections with his fellow Senators.

The fact Paul was offered additional time to speak after the shutdown began at midnight but declined — no longer during prime time television hours — can only add to the frustration.

Worse, said our source, was their view that Paul hadn’t been as much engaged in the spending fight as he was engaged in publicity opportunities for himself.

“It’s a pointless exercise,” said our source. “Yes, he is discussing an important issue and making a lot of key points but he hasn’t done anything to actually work on reducing spending.”

Our source also pointed out past votes by Paul that seemed in conflict with his current stand, including voting against the last Obamacare repeal bill, which saved money by repealing the mandates, and another repeal bill that had significant Medicaid reforms — even though part of his remarks on Thursday focused on entitlement reform.

“This is a remarkably stupid moment,” CNN’s Phil Mattingly said another Senate Republican aide had told him.

Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter: @rumpfshaker.

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