{"id":2413802,"date":"2025-03-19T06:20:02","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T10:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rand-paul-walks-trump-tightrope-as-conservative-contrarian-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T06:20:02","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T10:20:02","slug":"rand-paul-walks-trump-tightrope-as-conservative-contrarian-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rand-paul-walks-trump-tightrope-as-conservative-contrarian-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Rand Paul walks Trump tightrope as conservative contrarian &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frand-paul-walks-trump-tightrope-as-conservative-contrarian-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2413802&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Rand Paul walks Trump tightrope as conservative contrarian<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1917352\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mitch-mcconnell\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Mitch McConnell\">Mitch McConnell<\/a> (R-KY) isn&rsquo;t the only Kentucky senator who is sometimes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3320020\/mcconnell-emerges-trump-greatest-gop-foe-cabinet-confirmations-overnight\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">a thorn<\/a> in President Donald Trump&rsquo;s side.<\/p>\n<p>So too can be Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/rand-paul\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Rand Paul\">Rand Paul<\/a> (R-KY), the second-term libertarian and 2016 presidential candidate who&rsquo;s no stranger to clashing with Trump and fellow Republicans. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3351336\/schumer-book-tour-damage-control-im-best-leader-senate\/\">Schumer trades in book tour for damage control: &lsquo;I&#8217;m the best leader for the Senate&rsquo;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3350792\/democrats-revolt-against-chuck-schumer-fights-with-trump\/\">Democrats revolt against Schumer as they spoil for fights with Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3350579\/china-cheers-demise-voice-of-america-kari-lake\/\">China cheers demise of Voice of America under Kari Lake<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Paul was the lone GOP senator to vote against a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown, has opposed two Trump nominees &mdash; United States Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer &mdash; has bashed Trump&rsquo;s tariffs, questioned the legality of using the military for deportations, and only last month offered the president an endorsement three months after the election.<\/p>\n<p>He&rsquo;s also likely to present hurdles as congressional Republicans turn their attention toward a special budget tool known as reconciliation to pass Trump&rsquo;s policy priorities. <\/p>\n<p>Still, Paul manages to remain in the good graces of Trump and the MAGA base. His stature in the party starkly contrasts McConnell, the former longtime Senate GOP leader who&rsquo;s been further ostracized after opposing a string of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3320020\/mcconnell-emerges-trump-greatest-gop-foe-cabinet-confirmations-overnight\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Trump nominees<\/a>. He also avoided the same ouster threat as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), as Trump vowed to back his primary challenge after Massie was the lone House Republican to vote against the same government funding bill as Paul.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;All I do is take my positions,&rdquo; Paul told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really have a reaction to how it&rsquo;s covered.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Paul&rsquo;s ability to maintain his standing in the party despite being among his conference&rsquo;s rabble-rousers, such as Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Ron Johnson (R-WI), is in part thanks to his public willingness to air his grievances. He&rsquo;s unwavering in his positions, forces doomed amendment votes that are bemoaned by colleagues, and engages in long floor speeches on fiscal responsibility and limited government.<\/p>\n<p>His latest instance of irking senators came last week when he forced an amendment vote to codify the administration&rsquo;s spending cuts into law. Republicans wanted to support it but were forced to vote it down because the Senate was racing to pass a stopgap funding bill just hours before a shutdown deadline. Altering the House-passed legislation would have resulted in a lapse of funding early Saturday morning.<\/p>\n<p>Paul is the chairman of the Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee but is not in party leadership, a notable distinction that further bolsters his anti-establishment persona.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our state has this real contrarian streak in it. We are contrarians. I don&rsquo;t know if anybody embodies that word more than Rand Paul in the U.S. Senate,&rdquo; said Scott Jennings, a GOP strategist and former McConnell campaign aide from Kentucky. &ldquo;It does show political skill to be able to effectively get away with it, especially when you&rsquo;re going against the president of your own party.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Paul, when asked whether he gave Senate leadership or the White House forewarning before he casts &ldquo;nay&rdquo; votes on Trump nominees or the government funding, suggested it was unnecessary.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very public and very consistent with my positions since I came here,&rdquo; Paul said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any shock or surprise to the positions that I take.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>McConnell, by comparison, sent shockwaves through Washington this year with an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3300153\/hegseth-confirmed-defense-secretary-vance-vote-mcconnell-rebel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">11th-hour rebellion<\/a> against the confirmation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that caught many Republicans flat-footed.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;With Rand, you always know where you stand,&rdquo; said Hawley, who&rsquo;s among the conservative contrarians known for bucking McConnell as leader.<\/p>\n<p>However, Paul operates in a chamber in which Republicans control 53-47, allowing his &ldquo;nay&rdquo; votes to have no impact on Trump&rsquo;s agenda or nominees so far. Massie seemed to foreshadow that Rand would have received similar scrutiny as himself if the math in the Senate was harder.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think the attack on me was to keep other House Republicans in line, not to change my vote,&rdquo; Massie said of the saga over the government funding bill in a statement to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;They were always going to have enough Democrats in the Senate, so there was really nothing to be gained by attacking&nbsp;Sen. Paul.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Paul&rsquo;s fiscal discipline could present a battle royale on reconciliation<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) arrives as Republicans hold a closed-door meeting after blocking a bipartisan border package that had been tied to wartime aid for Ukraine at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For Paul, being the anti-establishment antagonist runs in the family and is a lane he operates from most comfortably. He&rsquo;s the son of Ron Paul, the former libertarian congressman and presidential candidate who helped kickstart the Tea Party movement. A trained eye surgeon, the younger Paul is known for his annual &ldquo;Festivus Report,&rdquo; which highlights government waste. He was one of Dr. Anthony Fauci&rsquo;s fiercest critics in Congress over pandemic-era health mandates.<\/p>\n<p>Paul managed to irk his Kentucky neighbor over a yard dispute in 2017, so much so that he suffered broken ribs after the man tackled him in a brutal physical attack that resulted in a nine-month prison sentence.<\/p>\n<p>The stopgap measure to avert a shutdown largely extended current funding levels through fiscal 2025, allowing Paul to argue that opposing it was actually the more conservative stance because the bill essentially greenlighted Biden-era spending levels.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In December, most fiscal conservatives voted against this package, and now they&rsquo;re presented with the exact same package that will lead to a $2 trillion deficit this year,&rdquo; Paul said. <\/p>\n<p>Paul will likely create headaches for the White House in the coming months as congressional Republicans craft a so-called reconciliation package to pass pillars of Trump&rsquo;s agenda, including 2017 tax credits that are set to expire. As a leading fiscal policy hawk, Paul regularly bucks the GOP on any spending he deems irresponsible in the face of the ever-rising national debt.<\/p>\n<p>Reconciliation will only require a simple majority to clear both chambers, giving Senate Republicans some breathing room that could allow Paul and two other GOP senators to defect yet still pass the legislation.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;One of the strongest parts of his brand is that strong adherence to the idea that the Republican Party is supposed to be the fiscally conservative party, and that&rsquo;s been his calling card for most of his career,&rdquo; Jennings said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a real appreciation for that among the grassroots.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Paul opposed Greer&rsquo;s appointment as the top trade representative over the administration&rsquo;s trade policies, which include new tariffs, and Chavez-DeRemer&rsquo;s appointment to run the Labor Department because of her past &ldquo;pro-labor&rdquo; views.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Paul determined it was time to offer Trump an endorsement last month, albeit a little late.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m amazed by the Trump cabinet (many of whom I would have picked). I love his message to the Ukrainian warmongers, and along with his DOGE initiative shows I was wrong to withhold my endorsement,&rdquo; Paul said in a post to X in February. &ldquo;So today, admittedly a little tardy, I give Donald Trump my enthusiastic endorsement! (Too little too late some will say, but, you know, it is sincere, there is that.) Don&rsquo;t expect this endorsement to be fawning. I still think tariffs are a terrible idea, but Dios Mio, what courage, what tenacity.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Like anyone who&rsquo;s shared a debate stage with the president, Paul has been the subject of Trump&rsquo;s attacks but has largely escaped his wrath in the near-decade since the two traded personal barbs during a 2016 GOP presidential primary debate.<\/p>\n<p>The two frequently sparred during that campaign. In one of the debates, Trump came out of the gate with an unprovoked attack asserting Paul &ldquo;shouldn&rsquo;t even be on this stage&rdquo; because of low poll numbers. Later, the two exchanged personal attacks.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3292730\/all-executive-orders-actions-trump-first-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>LIST: THE EXECUTIVE ORDERS, ACTIONS, AND PROCLAMATIONS TRUMP HAS MADE AS PRESIDENT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;His visceral response to attack people on their personal appearance &mdash; short, tall, fat, ugly &mdash; my goodness, that happened in junior high. Are we not all worried,&rdquo; Paul said.<\/p>\n<p>Trump responded: &ldquo;I never attacked him on his look, and believe me, there&rsquo;s plenty of subject matter there. That I can tell you.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1917352\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1917352\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rand Paul walks Trump tightrope as conservative contrarian Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) isn\u2019t the only Kentucky senator who is sometimes a thorn in President Donald Trump\u2019s side. So too can be Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the second-term libertarian and 2016 presidential candidate who\u2019s no stranger to clashing with Trump and fellow Republicans. \u00a0\u00a0 Recommended Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3108,"featured_media":2413803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rand-paul.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2413802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rand-paul.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2413802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2413803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2413802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2413802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2413802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}