Rand Paul Just Blocked a Vote on the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund

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Last week, an extension for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund passed the House by a margin of 402-12, and it seemed like it would breeze through the Senate by similar margins. Instead…nope! It turns out that Rand Paul, the terrible senator from Kentucky who isn’t Mitch McConnell, decided this was a good time to stage a fight about spending. From The Hill:

But Paul objected, pointing to the country’s growing debt and arguing that any new spending should be offset by cuts to other spending.

“It has long been my feeling that we need to address our massive debt in the country,” he said. “And therefore any new spending … should be offset by cutting spending that’s less valuable. We need to at the very least have this debate.”

Kirsten Gillibrand spoke for us all in response: “I am deeply disappointed that my colleague has just objected to the desperately needed and urgent bill for our 9/11 first responders.”

The bill will likely pass in early August, but Paul has, at the very least, thrown up a road block.