Rogue Republican senator Rand Paul defends stance after causing overnight US government shutdown

'Make no mistake, I will always stand up for fiscal responsibility.'
Republican Rand Paul said: "I will always stand up for fiscal responsibility"
Martin Coulter9 February 2018
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The rogue Republican senator who caused the US government to shut down overnight on Thursday has defended his position.

The US government was open for business again on Friday after the Senate finally managed to reach a key agreement on its budget.

Senators voted 71-28 to approve the deal, overcoming objections from Republican fiscal conservatives who said the bill marks a return to unchecked deficit spending.

A shutdown became inevitable as Republican Senator Rand Paul repeatedly held up votes on the budget plan, which is married to a six-week government-wide spending measure.

Taking to Twitter, Mr Paul said he would "always stand up for fiscal responsibility" and called out the "hypocrisy" of his own party.

He wrote: "Tonight, you could feel the frustration and embarrassment growing in Congress as we exposed the hypocrisy of Republicans who are joining in an unholy alliance and spending free-for-all with Democrats at the expense of the American people and our party’s supposed principles.

"Make no mistake, I will always stand up for fiscal responsibility, regardless of which party is in power, and I will continue to call the Republican Party home to the ideas that led to Americans trusting us with government in the first place."

Mr Paul's protest forced Congress to miss a midnight deadline for passing a funding measure to keep the government operating.

The shutdown was the second in two weeks.

The 400 billion US dollar (£286 billion) budget agreement is married to a six-week temporary funding bill needed to keep the government operating and to provide time to implement the budget pact.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn tried unsuccessfully to end the protest by Senator Rand Paul
Getty Images

House leaders hustled to move before federal employees were due back at work, hoping to minimise the disruption. A shutdown essentially cuts the federal workforce in half, with those dubbed non-essential not allowed to work. Military and essential workers would remain on the job regardless.

The Trump administration signalled it expected the shutdown to be short, calling it a "lapse".

As the clock hit midnight, Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney immediately issued an order to close non-essential government operations.

Mr Mulvaney told federal agencies they should execute their contingency plans and instructed federal employees to report to work on Friday to "undertake orderly shutdown activities".

At the White House, there appeared to be little sense of concern. Aides closed shop early on Thursday night, with no comment on the display on the Hill. The president did not tweet.

Vice President Mike Pence, in South Korea for the Winter Olympics, said the administration was "hopeful" the shutdown would not last long.

But frustrations were clear in both sides of the Capitol, where just hours earlier leaders had been optimistic that the budget deal was a sign they had left behind some of their chronic dysfunction.

Senate Democrats sparked a three-day partial government shutdown last month by filibustering a spending bill, seeking relief for "Dreamer" immigrants who have lived in the country illegally since they were children.

House GOP leaders said they were confident they had shored up support among conservatives for the measure, which would shower the Pentagon with money but add hundreds of billions of dollars to the nation's 20 trillion-plus US dollars (£14 trillion) debt.

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