During consideration of the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act (H.R. 6363), Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) offered an amendment to reduce funding in the bill by 15 percent, except for the Department of Defense, military construction, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and to rescind $30 billion in enforcement funds provided to the Internal Revenue Service.
The Senate rejected Paul’s amendment on November 15, 2023 by a vote of 32 to 65 (Roll Call 311). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because reining in government spending ought to be an urgent priority given that about 80 percent of the current federal bureaucracy is unconstitutional and the national debt recently surpassed $33 trillion. Members of Congress must also be willing to take more drastic and immediate action to eliminate all spending that is not specifically authorized by Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. Their ongoing failure to do so is contributing to the erosion and decline of the American Republic.
