‘Walk Of Shame’: Rand Paul Says GOP Using ‘Same Playbook’ As Dems By Not Removing Debt Ceiling From Bill

Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Sunday on Fox News that the GOP is using the “same playbook” as Democrats in their efforts to not remove the debt ceiling from President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

Since the bill passed the House on Thursday, a group of GOP senators, including Paul, have spoken out about their concerns with the package. Fox host Shannon Bream asked the lawmaker on “Fox News Sunday” whether taking out the debt ceiling increase would give Democrats leverage to “drag out” the fight later on, compared to leaving it in while the GOP holds the majority.

“Well, they want to take it out of this bill because it is a walk of shame,” Paul said. “Every time the debt ceiling raises, the people who’ve been voting for the spending have to walk in shame to the front of the House or the front of the Senate and say, ‘Yes, I’ve been voting for all these deficits pending and now I’m willing to vote to raise the debt ceiling.’”

“But I would say the opposite. I offered an amendment two weeks ago to raise the debt ceiling for three months. That’s $500 billion, believe it or not, for three months. The reason I do it every three months and force the vote is it’s a point of leverage,” Paul added.

Prior to passing in the House, the bill had already faced pushback from Republican representatives. The final vote was 215-214-1, with two congressional Republicans voting no alongside Democrats and one voting “present.”

Paul has been an outspoken critic of the “big, beautiful bill,” telling