Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Newsmax Wednesday that, in light of revelations that the federal government colluded with social media to censor conservative Americans, the House might yet use the power of the purse to defund unconstitutional government efforts.
"We give it to the Congress, the power of the purse," Paul said during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Chris Salcedo Show." "We have the House controlled by Republicans. We tell voters give us control of the House and we'll do something and yet we don't. It's fear of the government shutting down that the Democrats and the mainstream media build.
"But there still is one possible outcome to this: If the House sticks to passing 12 individual appropriation bills, refuses to conference on them together but conferences with the Senate on the differences on each one and then insists on cutting the spending from the Senate total, there is a possibility they will use the power of the purse," he said.
"But it's yet to be seen. It isn't seen in these continuing resolutions, and we'll see whether or not they have the gumption to actually stick by their guns and do the individual bills and try to actually do something.
"If we don't want to fund the IRS, there's no reason why all of those 80,000 new agents should be funded," he continued. "They should just hold the Department of Treasury bill and say we're not passing that bill, and it's a little easier if it's only 1/12 of government, as opposed to all the bills. So they'll divide them into 12 and do them one at a time like they're supposed to. We will actually gain some leverage back and the House could have the power of the purse. It's yet to be seen."
Last week, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said the federal government, disinformation "experts" at universities, Big Tech, and others worked together through the Election Integrity Partnership to censor Americans' speech during the 2020 election.
Jordan's revelation followed Paul's Oct. 31 grilling of FBI Director Christopher Wray on the federal government's $3 million payment to the company then known as Twitter for content moderation services.
Paul said getting the federal government back on track, to where it's funding appropriate ventures, might be possible if new House Speaker Mike Johnson leverages the power of the purse.
"I think it's encouraging that the first thing the speaker did was say we're going to send money to Israel, but it's going to be paid for by not giving it to the IRS," the senator said. "That was a good precedent. If he holds firm on that, he can actually hold the day on that because [Chuck] Schumer and [Joe] Biden both said it's dead on arrival, they won't do it.
"Then there won't be any aid. I mean, we tried to pass the aid unanimously yesterday or, actually, by vote. Every Democrat voted against aid for Israel if it was paid for. Their only complaint is it's paid for. They were all for it if it weren't paid for. That's an untenable position, and I think ultimately they will capitulate and vote for it separately if the speaker holds to his guns."
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Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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