One of the Senate’s most outspoken Republican critics of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” isn’t closing the door on eventually supporting the sweeping domestic policy package.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said during an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday that while he’s not on board yet, his support is possible if the White House agrees to significantly scale back the proposed $5 trillion debt ceiling increase included in the bill.
“Congress is awful with money, and so you should give them a more restricted credit line, not an expansive one,” Paul said on Meet the Press. He acknowledged the debt ceiling needs to rise but argued it should happen incrementally. “Yes, the debt ceiling has to go up, but what I’ve said is it ought to go up three months at a time and then we should have a renewed debate about the debt,” he explained. “We shouldn’t put it up $5 trillion and wait two years, go through another election cycle and be almost toward the end of the Trump administration and say, ‘Oh, whoops, we’ve added a bunch of debt.’”
Paul’s comments leave room for negotiations but make clear that any path to his vote will require a more disciplined, short-term approach to managing federal borrowing.