Senate passes sweeping spending bill sends measure to House for crucial vote to end government shutdown
Rand Paul
The Senate passed a sweeping bipartisan spending bill Friday morning  but not before the federal government shut down when Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) delayed the vote past midnight to complain about the budget deficit. It was the second government shutdown in less than three weeks.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Feb. 8 spoke on the Senate floor against a bipartisan budget deal and delayed a vote on the measure. (U.S. Senate)
Then  as an expected vote approached in the Senate   Paul  began to throw up roadblocks  demanding a vote on  his  amendment that would demonstrate how the two-year budget deal breaks past pledges to rein in federal spending.
GOP leaders refused to allow  him  to offer the amendment  arguing that if  Paul  got an amendment vote  many other senators might want one  too.  Paul   in turn  refused to allow the vote to go forward  making use of Senate rules that allow individual senators to slow down proceedings that require the consent of all.
“I can’t in all good honesty  in all good faith  just look the other way because my party is now complicit in the deficits ”  Paul  said on the Senate floor as evening pushed into night.
 Paul  objected after a visibly irritated McConnell tried to move to a vote. Then  Paul  launched into a lengthy floor speech deriding bipartisan complicity on deficit spending while the country goes “on and on and on  finding new wars to fight that make no sense.” The senator direly predicted a “day of reckoning ” possibly in the form of the collapse of the stock market.
As the hours ticked on   Paul  repeatedly refused to consent to allowing the vote to happen  as lawmakers and aides of both parties grew increasingly annoyed at  him . Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.)  leaving the floor after an unsuccessful attempt to curtail  Paul ’s standoff  called the gambit “grossly irresponsible” and said that leaders would not entertain  his  demand for a vote.
Senators of both parties were left fuming  with most of their ire directed toward  Paul .
“ He  has mastered the art of ticking off  his  colleagues ” said Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.).
“It’s a colossal waste of everybody’s time ” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). Of  Paul   Thune said  “He never gets a result.”
 Paul himself  made no apologies as  he  delivered one floor speech after another  casting  himself  as a lone defender of fiscal austerity  despite having voted in December for a tax bill that added at least $1 trillion to the debt.
The Senate passed a sweeping bipartisan spending bill Friday morning  but not before the federal government shut down when [TGT] delayed the vote past midnight to complain about the budget deficit. It was the second government shutdown in less than three weeks.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Feb. 8 spoke on the Senate floor against a bipartisan budget deal and delayed a vote on the measure. (U.S. Senate)
Then  as an expected vote approached in the Senate   [TGT]began to throw up roadblocks  demanding a vote on  [TGT]  amendment that would demonstrate how the two-year budget deal breaks past pledges to rein in federal spending.
GOP leaders refused to allow  [TGT]  to offer the amendment  arguing that if  [TGT]got an amendment vote  many other senators might want one  too.  [TGT]in turn  refused to allow the vote to go forward  making use of Senate rules that allow individual senators to slow down proceedings that require the consent of all.
“I can’t in all good honesty  in all good faith  just look the other way because my party is now complicit in the deficits ”  [TGT]said on the Senate floor as evening pushed into night.
 [TGT]objected after a visibly irritated McConnell tried to move to a vote. Then  [TGT]launched into a lengthy floor speech deriding bipartisan complicity on deficit spending while the country goes “on and on and on  finding new wars to fight that make no sense.” [TGT] direly predicted a “day of reckoning ” possibly in the form of the collapse of the stock market.
As the hours ticked on   [TGT]repeatedly refused to consent to allowing the vote to happen  as lawmakers and aides of both parties grew increasingly annoyed at  [TGT] . Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.)  leaving the floor after an unsuccessful attempt to curtail  Paul ’s standoff  called the gambit “grossly irresponsible” and said that leaders would not entertain  his  demand for a vote.
Senators of both parties were left fuming  with most of their ire directed toward  Paul .
“ He  has mastered the art of ticking off  his  colleagues ” said Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.).
“It’s a colossal waste of everybody’s time ” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). Of  Paul   Thune said  “He never gets a result.”
 Paul himself  made no apologies as  he  delivered one floor speech after another  casting  himself  as a lone defender of fiscal austerity  despite having voted in December for a tax bill that added at least $1 trillion to the debt.