Senator Rand Paul criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson for changing his conservative principles after ascending to a leadership position.
Paul took issue with Johnson forcing a tie vote against a bipartisan amendment that would have required warrants for government spying on Americans.
Speaking on Fox News, Paul said Johnson “broke the tie” and voted with Democrats against the warrant requirement.
“Speaker Johnson was incredibly wrong,” Paul said. “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.”
He also noted Johnson voted with a majority of Democrats for a spending package.
Paul argued Johnson has not “held his ground” or used his new position of power to differentiate himself from Democrats.
“We also have Speaker Johnson voting for the spending package once again with a 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.”
“Johnson hasn’t held his ground,” Paul said. “He has power. He has a majority. Use the power of the purse. Speaker Johnson, do something to make us think you are different than the Democrats. But so far I don’t see a lot of difference.”
According to Paul, Johnson has betrayed some of the conservative values he previously espoused and there is now little difference between him and Democratic leadership in the House.
