Senator Rand Paul criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson for voting with Democrats on two recent issues – the renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act last week and a $1.2 trillion budget package last month.
Paul argued Americans should not be spied on without warrants as intended by the Fourth Amendment, and that FISA does not obey it.
He said Johnson broke the Republican tie by supporting the Democrats on FISA.
Paul also noted Johnson voted for the large spending package with most Democrats, again going against the majority of Republicans.
“I want to also ask you about what you heard from the speaker regarding FISA,” FNC’s Maria Bartiromo asked. “Can we trust government? Can we trust government to use FISA appropriately and legally?”
Paul accused Johnson of abdicating the power of the purse that Republicans hold.
He questioned if there is any difference now between Johnson leading versus Democrats, since the large deficit this year will be Johnson’s bill that he put forward with Democratic support rather than using fiscal restraint.
“Absolutely not,” Paul said. “Americans shouldn’t be spied on by their own government. The Fourth Amendment was put in by our founding fathers to protect us. FISA doesn’t obey the Fourth Amendment. And so Speaker Johnson was incredibly wrong. He broke the tie. He voted with the Democrats. Here we have the leader of the Republicans in the House votes with the Democrats against a warrant requirement.”
“We also have Speaker Johnson voting for the spending package, once again with the majority of the Democrats,” he added. “As I see it now, I’m not so sure there’s a difference between Mike Johnson being in charge and the Democrats being in charge. The debt — the deficit this year will be $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion. And that’s Mike Johnson’s bill. He put it forward. He supported it with a minority of Republicans, with the majority of Democrats. This is not using the power of the purse. This is abdicating the power of the purse.”
