Rand Paul vows to hold up $1T ‘minibus’ that must pass by Friday

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says he will hold up a $1 trillion “minibus” spending package that needs to pass by the end of the day Friday to avoid triggering a partial government shutdown.

“I will hold it up primarily because we’re bankrupt and it’s a terrible idea to keep spending money at this rate,” Paul told The Hill on Wednesday.

“The spending bills before us will lead to a $1.5 trillion deficit for the year. We’re borrowing about $1 trillion every three months. It’s an alarming pace of accumulation of debt,” he said.

“My opposition to this will be based on how much” the package would add to the U.S. debt, which now stands at $34.5 trillion, he added.

Asked if he would delay final Senate passage of the bill past the weekend, which would trigger a partial government shutdown, Paul shrugged and lifted his palms to the air, signaling he hadn’t decided yet how long to delay it.