Senate

Rand Paul: Pay for hurricane recovery with spending cuts

by Jordain Carney - 09/06/17 6:00 PM ET

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) will try to use spending cuts to help pay for roughly $8 billion in aid for communities hit by Hurricane Harvey.

The Kentucky Republican wants to add the cuts to the House-passed hurricane bill once it reaches the Senate, where GOP leadership is expected to attach a deal that would fund the government and raise the debt ceiling for three months.

“As the Senate prepares to vote on hurricane aid, I will be introducing an ‘America First’ amendment to cut wasteful spending from abroad to pay for much-needed relief here at home,” Paul said in a statement.

{mosads}He added that “any new spending should be offset by significant reforms.”

Paul’s tactic comes after President Trump appeared to catch GOP lawmakers off guard earlier Wednesday when he agreed with Democrats to a deal that would package Harvey recovery funding with short-term debt hike and government funding bill.

Paul’s spending cuts would cover the $7.85 billion included in the House-passed bill as well as an additional $ 2.15 billion that could be used for Harvey recovery or Hurricane Irma, which is currently on track to hit Florida.

The cuts would come from funds that have been set aside for foreign aid but not spent yet, according to Paul’s office.

Still, Paul’s pitch faces an uphill battle to getting added to the legislation.

Democrats would likely vote against the measure, warning that if Paul’s cuts were added it could kill the overall debt and funding deal. Republicans will need the support of at least eight Democrats to get the spending deal through the Senate.

Conservatives are sending early signals that they will not support the agreement hammered out during a closed-door White House meeting between Trump and congressional leadership.

“We shouldn’t raise [debt ceiling] w/o reform or cuts. That’s the purpose of a debt limit. 3-mo. deal doesn’t do either,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.

Tags James Lankford Rand Paul