Liberal plans to give Syrian refugees a plush life in the United States at taxpayer expense may be wrecked by a senatorial monkey-wrench.
“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) came to the Senate floor on November 19th and withdrew cloture motions on the spending bill for the Department of Transportation and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The motions would have allowed the legislation to come up for a procedural vote,” according to The Hill newspaper.
“The move came after Paul, who is running for president, demanded a vote on an amendment that would ban new refugees from 34 countries or territories from getting assistance from welfare programs funded under the spending bill,” The Hill reports.
The idea of cutting off welfare to refugees who haven’t paid into the system horrifies the D.C. establishment, who shut down the Senate rather than hold the vote.
“With Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), who are spearheading the legislation, opposed to Paul’s amendment, Paul pledged that he would block leadership from trying to speed up procedural votes, as well as block any other amendment from getting queued up for floor time,” The Hill reports.
The paper reports “Paul’s demand quickly added an unforeseen complication to the otherwise uncontroversial spending bill…Paul’s roadblock (could_ force the housing-transportation legislation to be wrapped into a larger ‘omnibus’ spending bill, Collins said ‘at this point, that’s probably a good bet.’”
Congress has until mid-December to vote on the legislation, setting up a standoff between Paul and Senate GOP leaders.