Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he’ll know “in the next few hours” when the upper chamber will be able to clear a $1.3 trillion spending bill for President Trump’s signature ahead of a Friday deadline.
The timing hinges on Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican whose consent is required to speed the bill to passage as early as Thursday.
“We’ll find out in the next few hours how quickly we’ll be able to move to it,” McConnell, also from Kentucky, told reporters as he headed to his Capitol office.
Paul objects to the size and scope of the legislation and the lack of time provided to study it.
The bill is 2,232 pages. It was introduced Wednesday night.
Paul said he plans to read the bill before voting. As of Thursday afternoon, he had read 56 pages.
A Paul spokesman told the Washington Examiner that whether Paul will consent to consideration of the bill on Thursday is “to be determined.”
Paul has not officially object to fast consideration of the bill. His opportunity to do so would come when McConnell makes a motion to consider the bill, which is expected later Thursday
In order to eliminate a time requirement, all senators must agree or else the legislation must churn through regular order, which adds about a day to consideration.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike agree with Paul in principle on the speedy consideration of the bill, even if most of them will ultimately vote for the measure.
“The process is frustrating,” incoming Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said.
Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., who is undecided on the bill but is not blocking quick consideration, agrees with Paul.
“We had less than three days to look at 2,000 pages,” Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., said. “This is not the way to run the government at all. We’ve got to fix that.”
But Perdue said “there is no benefit to waiting,” since the bill is headed toward passage.
The legislation is the the product of a bipartisan agreement struck in February between the House and the Senate. The deal helps ensure enough votes for passage in both chambers.
The House approved the bill easily Thursday afternoon by a vote of 256-167.
Paul has been publicly denouncing the measure, which exceeds federal spending caps by $300 billion over two years, adding to the deficit, and is rife with last-minute policy riders such as the CLOUD act, which opponents say gives the executive branch too much power in deciding foreign government access to U.S. electronic data.
“Shame, shame,” Paul tweeted Thursday. “A pox on both Houses – and parties. $1.3 trillion. Busts budget caps. 2200 pages, with just hours to try to read it.”
Paul was hounded by reporters as he moved through the Capitol Thursday. He told them he was continuing to read the legislation. He acknowledged the bill would ultimately pass.
His fellow GOP lawmakers have refrained from criticism, although the frustration was palpable in the Senate hallways.
Senators typically leave town on Thursdays and today was to be the start of a two-week recess.
Now, a possible weekend session looms.
“Whatever rights he has, he’ll decide the best use of them,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. “I know how the movie ends. No matter what he does, we are going to pass this bill and the military is going to get a pay raise and more funding. And that’s a good thing.”
