Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), like Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), has publicly split with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on whether to join Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in opposing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s efforts to fund Obamacare. Reid hopes to strip the defunding language out of the House-passed Continuing Resolution (CR).
In an interview this weekend with Breitbart News, Paul said: “You can filibuster the bill, and I will support not ending debate on it.”
That is the position of Cruz and Lee, who have been publicly fighting this battle. On Tuesday, in the wake of news that McConnell and Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn are actively working against Cruz and whipping votes against his strategy, Rubio endorsed Cruz’s and Lee’s strategy.
“ObamaCare is making it harder for hard working Americans to achieve the American Dream,” Rubio said in an email to Breitbart News. “That is why when I ran for the Senate I pledged to do everything I could to stop ObamaCare.”
“A vote for cloture will make it easier for Senate Democrats to preserve this job killing law,” he explained. “That is why I will vote no on the motion to cut off debate.”
The Paul-McConnell dynamic is a story that has dominated Kentucky politics for months now, as Paul endorsed McConnell’s re-election campaign over his challenger from the right, Matt Bevin. Cruz, Lee, and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) have refused to endorse McConnell’s re-election bid, according to NBC News.
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