During recent Senate consideration of the new spending and tax bill, I had one simple mission: Stop Congress from plunging this country deeper into debt. No earmarks. No handouts. No favors. No horse trading. I asked for something radical in Washington terms: respect for the taxpayer.
Meeting with Vice President JD Vance, I made it clear that I was willing to support the final package — but only if it came with a 90% reduction in the debt ceiling. It’s the same thing I’ve been calling for all along.
Instead, Senate leaders prioritized adding billions more in targeted welfare subsidies for select states like Alaska.
This was a moment for leadership. A chance to put America on a more stable path. But Washington again chose convenience over constraint.
Supporters of the “Big Not-So-Beautiful Bill” will try to dazzle you with 10-year projections. But even under the most favorable math, this “Big Not-So-Beautiful Bill” adds $270 billion to the national debt in 2026 and over $500 billion in five years.
That’s even before considering the $5 trillion increase in the debt limit, giving Congress free rein to continue to add to this tally without any recourse.
Again, this law piles on more than $500 billion in new spending over just the first five years, driving up the deficit every single year through at least 2030. Any so-called savings are delayed until the back half of the decade, giving a future radical-left White House or Congress every opportunity to reverse them.
In reality, this bill guarantees the spending up front and leaves the restraint for later, if it ever comes.
They say Republicans are the party of fiscal conservatism. So why does every bill spend more than the last?
I even wrote an amendment to keep the bill as is — but raise the debt ceiling separately, or on a short-term basis — to ensure the vote be routine by design. It was rejected.
And it gets worse. At the last minute, Senate leadership stripped out language that would have ended enhanced Medicaid payments to states covering illegal immigrants. That’s unacceptable.
When the Senate returns this week, I will introduce a bill to block federal taxpayer-funded Medicaid for illegal aliens immediately, not 15 months from now like the “Not-Yet-Beautiful Bill” does. My bill will also reduce enhanced federal payments to state programs that cover illegal immigrants, a provision that was dropped from the “Not-Yet-Beautiful Bill.”
Let’s stop pretending Washington’s projections mean anything. Every year, they’re off by hundreds of billions — sometimes a trillion. The only question that matters is: Will the deficit be higher next year?
Yes. By a lot.
WHY THE KREMLIN HAS DELEGATED ITS TRUMP REBUKES TO STATE MEDIA
This country isn’t broke because we tax too little. It’s broke because we spend too much — and no one in Washington wants to stop.
The uniparty in Washington, Republicans and Democrats alike, derailed the “America First” fiscal agenda. They didn’t just raise the debt ceiling. They raised the white flag on fiscal sanity.
Rand Paul is a U.S. senator from Kentucky.