Rand Paul: ‘My Oath of Office Is to the U.S. Constitution, Not to Any Foreign Nation’

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Friday made it clear that he made an oath to the U.S. Constitution, not a foreign nation, defending his decision to block legislation to send $40 billion in aid bill to Ukraine.

“My oath of office is to the U.S. Constitution, not to any foreign nation. And no matter how sympathetic the cause, my oath of office is to the national security of the United States of America. We cannot save Ukraine by dooming the U.S. economy,” Paul said, reiterating the point he made the day prior:

“Congress is trying yet again to ram through a spending bill – one that I doubt anyone has actually read – and there’s no oversight included into how the money is being spent,” he said on Thursday, explaining that he requested an amendment that allows the Inspector General to oversee how funds are spent.

“While I sympathize with the people of Ukraine, and commend their fight against Putin, we cannot continue to spend money we don’t have,” he continued. “Passing this bill brings the total we’ve sent to Ukraine to nearly $54 billion over the course of two months.”

The Kentucky senator added that the move is “threatening our own national security, and it’s frankly a slap in the face to millions of taxpayers who are struggling to buy gas, groceries, and find baby formula”:

“Senator @RandPaul is standing up for the American people by asking for oversight and accountability into how taxpayer dollars are spent in support of Ukraine,” Heritage Action said, supporting Paul’s action.

“For context, $40 billion is more than the entire budget for the Department of Justice,” it added:

“You can’t find baby formula in the United States right now but Congress is voting today to send $40 billion to Ukraine. Let’s put America First for a change,” Donald Trump Jr. said, prompting another response from Paul:

“Agree. That’s why I offered an amendment for an Inspector General with a great record of tracking wasteful spending in Afghanistan,” Paul said, adding that lawmakers will “eventually pass the spending without me, as they always do, but at the very least they need to include oversight”:

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) criticized Paul’s efforts, blasting him for “preventing swift passage of Ukraine aid because he wants to add at the last minute his own changes directly into the bill.”

“His change is strongly opposed by many members of both parties,” Schumer said.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) supported a vote on Paul’s amendment but ultimately said that Congress should “pass the supplemental and we should do it today.”