Year-end spending package could face problems if people like @SenRandPaul get in the way.

Little bully Paul throws a temper tantrum!



Morning Consult ?@MorningConsult 2h2 hours ago

Year-end spending package could face problems if people like @SenRandPaul get in the way. #THUD http://hubs.ly/H01qVjq0


Test Ride on Year-End Appropriations Hits Hiccup in Senate
Will Dobbs-Allsopp | November 19, 2015

A revised appropriations bill in the Senate fell victim Thursday to what many fear will sink an all-encompassing year-end spending bill next month: controversial policy language.

The Senate’s consideration this week of the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development spending bill was in many ways a test run, a chance for members to work through a number of bipartisan amendments in the open ahead of their votes on a year-end omnibus spending bill. Not all spending will see that kind of deliberation, with time running short.

Both Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the chair and ranking member of the relevant appropriations subcommittee, had hoped they could pass the bill before taking off for a Thanksgiving break. It would have been only the second spending bill to make it past the Senate this year.

That, however, was before presidential contender Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced an amendment to the bill that would prevent new refugees from about 30 “high-risk” countries from receiving federal benefits. He then blocked all other amendments from coming to the floor until his proposal got a vote.

“I think it’s a very reasonable request to have a vote on that, and therefore until I am allowed to have a vote, for which I think the American people are clamoring for, I will continue to object,” Paul said on the Senate floor. In doing so, he prevented an amendment co-sponsored by Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) from being considered.

“I understand that Sen. Paul has raised an issue that is an important issue,” Collins retorted. “It does not belong on this bill, and indeed would result in this bill not progressing.”

Collins was right. Paul’s refusal to allow the consideration of any more amendments led Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to take the bill off the floor entirely, something that frustrated the measure’s lead negotiators. “Sen. Collins and I were both disappointed,” Reed said in an interview after McConnell yanked the bill. “We had a series of bipartisan amendments. We were actually hoping we could even wrap it up today.”........................