Scorecard 115-2

President Donald Trump nominated John Kenneth Bush to be a judge on the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. As chairman of the Louisville chapter of the Federalist Society, Bush is a strict constructionist. He has previously called for the repeal of ObamaCare, opposes public financing of campaign elections, opposes gay marriage, and is staunchly pro-life. On an online conservative blog, Bush equated abortion to slavery, describing them as the “two greatest tragedies in our country.”

The Senate confirmed Bush on July 20, 2017 by a vote of 51 to 47 (Roll Call 164). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because more judges are needed who will uphold the U.S. Constitution, as Bush intends.

During consideration of the healthcare bill (H.R. 1628), Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced an amendment that would have expired the expansion of Medicaid and certain taxes created under ObamaCare, prohibited healthcare plans that provide abortion coverage from qualifying for certain tax credits, banned federal funding of abortion, and repealed the individual and employer mandates created under ObamaCare.

The Senate rejected Paul’s amendment on July 26, 2017 by a vote of 45 to 55 (Roll Call 169). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because government should not subsidize the killing of innocent human life, and also because Senator Paul’s amendment would have repealed extensive portions of the unconstitutional ObamaCare law.

This bill (H.R. 3364) would establish new sanctions, and codify certain existing sanctions, on Russia. The bill cites an intelligence community assessment saying that “Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the United States presidential election.” It also expresses the sense of Congress that President Trump call on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine, and it states that “it is the policy of the United States … to support the Government of Ukraine in restoring its sovereign and territorial integrity.” In addition to Russia, H.R. 3364 also establishes and expands sanctions on Iran and North Korea.

The Senate passed H.R. 3364 on July 27, 2017 by a vote of 98 to 2 (Roll Call 175). We have assigned pluses to the nays because imposing new sanctions in the name of punishing the regimes’ provocations and aggression could itself be viewed as provocative and could result in push-back further involving the United States in the affairs of other countries and regions. Instead of acting as a global cop, America would be best served by returning to our traditional and constitutionally sound foreign policy of staying clear of foreign quarrels.

During consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2810), Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) offered an amendment to repeal, six months after the bill’s enactment, the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF). Enacted in the wake of 9/11, the AUMF authorized the president to use military force against the terrorists involved, including those who aided and harbored them, and was used as the legal authority for U.S. military entry into Afghanistan. Paul’s amendment would also have ended, six months after the bill’s enactment, the 2002 AUMF for the invasion of Iraq to disarm Saddam Hussein of his reputed weapons of mass destruction.

The Senate agreed to a motion to table (kill) Paul’s amendment on September 13, 2017 by a vote of 61 to 36 (Roll Call 195). We have assigned pluses to the nays because the 2001 AUMF in particular has been used by presidents ever since as a blank check not only for continued U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan, but for new military interventions elsewhere, including Libya, Syria, and Yemen — despite the fact that constitutionally authorized power to declare war belongs to Congress, not the president. “This is your constitutional role,” Paul said on the Senate floor prior to the vote on his amendment. “Let’s let these [AUMFs] expire, and over the next six months, let’s debate whether we should be at war and where.”

During consideration of the budget resolution (House Concurrent Resolution 71), Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced an amendment to cut $43 billion in budget authority in fiscal 2018. Senator Paul remarked on October 17, 2017, “I want a big, big very bold tax cut. I’m for the bigger the better. And I will settle for less than I want. But I do want the biggest. And I will agitate to make sure that everybody across-the-board gets a tax cut… I can’t get a Republican to sign on, because they give lip service to smaller government, but they’re afraid of their shadow. And not a damn one of them really are for cutting spending.”

The Senate rejected Paul’s amendment on October 19, 2017 by a vote of 5 to 95 (Roll Call 236). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because federal spending, much of which is unconstitutional, is out of control and needs to be reined in. While a $43 billion budget cut is small in comparison to the trillion-dollar-plus budgets in recent years, it is a symbolic act that should be applauded.