Stimulus Checks: Rand Paul Backs Down on Shutdown Threat as Congress Remains Stalled on COVID-19 Aid

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has retracted his threat to cause a U.S. government shut-down over this year's spending bill. Paul stalled the process over the new defense bill for a full day, according to a report by The Associated Press. Paul told reporters he only meant to "hold things up for a day" to make a point, yet many critics are angry, fearing that this will impact the tenuous stimulus check negotiations.

The United States Senate was unable to move forward on the spending bill while Republican Sen. Paul was holding the proceedings up, but on Friday, he finally broke and let the talks move forward. He told reporters on Capitol Hill: "I think it's a pretty important principle to discuss so we did hold things up for a day on that, but we're not going to on the CR." Without a spending bill, the government would have gone into another shut-down at midnight on Friday, and many critics were angry at Paul for cutting things so close. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was holding the talks up as well, but he relented on Friday along with Paul.

Paul objected to the bill because he believed it would limit President Donald Trump's ability to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and Germany, as he has promised to do. Critics fear that pulling out from those areas too quickly could be dangerous, but Paul is in favor. Paul said his intent "was to point out that the president should have the prerogative to end a war, not just to start wars."

During his filibuster, Paul called out Republican Wyoming Sen. Liz Cheney, holding her up as an example of "neoconservatives" in the U.S. Congress. He said that these lawmakers "are inconsistent in saying they want... to give the commander-in-chief powers to begin war, but then they want to restrain and hamstring a president from ending a war." He also called out Cheney's father, former Vice President Dick Cheney by name, saying: "The philosophy of these people is about war and substantiating war and making sure that it becomes and is perpetual war."

Cheney said that Paul's filibuster was "inexcusable," as it risked delaying COVID-19 aid negotiations further. Many of Paul's critics agreed, arguing that pandemic relief should take priority before the end of the current legislative session.

The Senate passed a one-week government funding bill by voice vote on Friday, giving them another week to deliberate on the spending bill overall. This means that the same deadline now looms on Dec. 18, and a government shut-down could be a nightmare during the coronavirus pandemic.

When Paul's stalling ended, the Senate sent its wide-ranging defense policy bill to President Donald Trump to be signed into law. Trump has previously threatened to veto this bill, feeling that it was not restrictive enough on big tech companies. Trump wants to come down on those companies, feeling they were biased in the 2020 presidential election. However, the bill passed with 84-13 votes in the House of Representatives, meaning that legislators have the power to override a presidential veto.