Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Sunday that he would support passing a stand-alone measure through the Senate to pay U.S. troops and federal workers who are not getting paid during the ongoing government shutdown.
“I’m in favor of paying the troops. I’m in favor of paying all of the employees that are currently working. And if that procedure or that vote comes before us next week, which I think there’s a chance that it will, I will support that,” Paul told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
It’s a notable position for Paul to take, given that he’s voted against every bill to temporarily fund the government in recent weeks.
The federal government has been shuttered since the beginning of the month as the Senate has failed to overcome a 60-vote threshold for any bill to temporarily fund the government.
The House in September passed a stopgap funding measure that would temporarily fund the government through Nov. 21. All House Republicans and one House Democrat voted in favor of that measure, but it has failed to earn the votes of 60 senators.
Senate Democrats have proposed their own temporary funding measure that would fund the government through Oct. 31, reverse cuts to Medicaid that Republicans passed earlier this year and extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.
That measure has also failed to garner 60 votes.
During the government shutdown, federal workers and members of the U.S. military don’t receive paychecks. Some federal workers are furloughed and don’t work during the shutdown, while others continue working but don’t get paid.
Last week, Trump announced that he and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were planning to fund troops’ paychecks ahead of the Oct. 15 payday. Meanwhile, the Trump administration tried to lay off thousands of furloughed federal workers, who are supposed to receive back pay for the time they don’t work once the government reopens. The move to lay off these workers has been temporarily blocked by courts.
“I didn’t vote for their Democrat spending bill and I didn’t vote for the Republican spending bill,” Paul said Sunday. “I did so because the spending levels lead to an enormous amount of deficit. The Republican bill will lead to $2 trillion in deficit next year, the Democrat bill $3 trillion in deficit. So I opposed both.”
The Kentucky senator has long been known to buck his party on bills that would increase the deficit, and it’s a key issue he’s championed nationally since he joined the Senate.
Rand has faced criticism for his position from President Donald Trump, who on Friday wrote in a post, “Whatever happened to ‘Senator’ Rand Paul? He was never great, but he went really BAD!”
“He just never votes positively for the Republican Party. He’s a nasty liddle’ guy ... a sick Wacko, who refuses to vote for our great Republican Party, MAGA, or America First. It’s really weird!!!” the president added.
On Sunday, Paul responded to the post, telling “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, “What I represent some people describe as unusual, and the president describes it as weird that I’m for less debt and balanced budgets.”
“But, you know, when I come home to Kentucky or when I travel the United States, people come up to me and say, ‘Stick to your guns. You’re the only voice up there, Republican or Democrat who’s still talking about the debt and still talking about balanced budgets,’” Paul added.
He dismissed the president’s criticism, saying, “I don’t take it too seriously.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., joined the program after Paul and spoke about his party’s continued decision to vote against the GOP-backed bill to fund the government.
Kaine said that Democrats would only vote to reopen the government if Trump “engages” in negotiations and if Republicans make a deal to extend ACA subsidies.
“We want to negotiate a resolution so people’s health care costs don’t spike. And Republicans are saying the same thing. They know they need to fix this, so let’s fix it now,” Kaine told Welker.
“The president told the Republicans to write this budget without any Democratic involvement. He instructed them to do this without any Democratic involvement,” the Virginia senator added. “That’s not the way things work here. And so when the Republicans wrote up this budget, we didn’t sit on our hands. We came up with an alternative that protected people from rising health care costs.”
Kaine went on to say that it was up to the president to move the nation out of this shutdown.
“We will get out of this shutdown within a matter of days or hours, once the president engages. We all have to come together on this, Democrats and Republicans, House, Senate and the White House,” Kaine said, adding later: “If he will engage, we’ll find a path forward.”
