Senate Republicans are bashing Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) for going rogue as they hash out changes to the House version of President Donald Trump's megabill, Politico reported.
Paul serves as chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which should give him "jurisdiction" over the section of the bill dealing with border security, according to Politico's Hailey Fuchs. But Paul's defiance over increased spending has led committee members to shut him out of negotiations.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has a long history of opposing Paul's more conservative approach to spending, is seeking to override Paul’s jurisdiction in the budget negotiations.
"Paul has made clear repeatedly he isn’t planning to vote for the party-line tax and spending bill...giving leadership few reasons to try and play nice," Fuchs wrote, adding that "the decision by senior Senate Republicans to undermine a committee chair in such a way marks a dramatic departure from standard Senate procedure."
This week, Paul drafted his own spending proposal, which is drastically different to Graham's. Senators viewed the move as "another break with precedent," Fuchs wrote.
She added that "few of Paul’s own members on the Homeland Security panel, if any, appeared supportive of the chair’s approach or willing to back him up against leadership’s attempts to undermine him. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said it was concerning that Paul would draft his own proposal 'without any consultation of the committee.'"
Hawley said he had “never seen that happen before," Fuchs wrote.
Paul's proposal "would allocate just $6.5 billion for immigration enforcement efforts at the border. His proposal also would free up $2.5 billion for Customs and Border Protection facilities and checkpoints instead of the House’s $5 billion offering," Politico reported.
