(LibertySociety.com) – On Saturday, June 3, President Joe Biden signed a long-awaited debt ceiling bill into law after months of disagreements between Democrats and Republicans on the matter. While the bill was approved by Congress and signed in time to avoid a default, some members of the GOP were against it. One of them was Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). On May 30, just days before the passage of the bill, Paul announced he would be offering a “conservative alternative” to amend the agreement.
Paul released a statement with his ideas to make the bill effective and force concessions from the White House, saying, “Bold actions must be taken to defeat our mounting national debt,” also citing the latest CNN poll which showed that around 60 percent of Americans only want the debt ceiling increased if it comes with spending cuts. Paul’s amendment intended to offer a temporary solution to avoid a default, only increasing the debt ceiling by $500 billion. His plan would have capped total spending instead of discretionary spending, and required a 5% spending cut each year, which he said would balance the US budget by 2028.
Senator Rand Paul joined members of the House in speaking out against the Biden-McCarthy agreement, including Representative Byron Donalds, R-Fla., who went viral on May 30th, 2023, for his vehement disagreement with the debt ceiling deal. Rep. Donalds is a member of the Freedom Caucus, whose members held a press conference to call for trashing the bill and restarting, criticizing Speaker McCarthy for agreeing to it.
Representative Nancy Mace, who has been called a Republican In Name Only (RINO) for her moderate views, tweeted her opposition to the bill, citing the record amount of spending, adding that it “doesn’t actually set a debt limit.” A total of 31 GOP Senators voted to oppose the bill, while four Democrats and one Independent did the same.
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