Freedom Index 119-2

H.R. 4, the “Rescissions Act of 2025,” would rescind $9 billion in funding previously appropriated by Congress for fiscal 2025, including $7.9 billion in foreign aid and $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The foreign-aid rescissions include $800 million for migration and refugee assistance, $361 million for international peacekeeping operations, and $169 million for international organizations such as the United Nations and World Health Organization.

The Senate passed H.R. 4 on July 17, 2025 by a vote of 51 to 48 (Roll Call 411). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution does not authorize Congress to establish or fund public media, or to send financial aid to foreign countries. Although $9 billion is a small number compared to the total amount of federal expenditures, it is a good first step toward reining in unconstitutional, reckless spending.

During consideration of the fiscal 2026 military-construction and agriculture appropriations bill (H.R. 3944), Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) offered an amendment to reduce discretionary spending in the agriculture appropriations component of the bill by two percent across the board. This would not affect SNAP and EBT food stamps, which are funded as mandatory spending.

The Senate rejected Kennedy’s amendment on August 1, 2025 by a vote of 14 to 81 (Roll Call 476). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the federal government needs to start reining in climbing federal spending (and deficits) somewhere in order to avert fiscal disaster.

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made a motion to proceed to Senate Concurrent Resolution 22, a budget resolution he introduced. On the Senate floor, Paul pleaded, “This year, the United States will spend $6.7 trillion while bringing in about $4.7 trillion. That is $2 trillion more being spent than what is coming in…. Next year, it is going to be even worse. The budget that was passed in the spring said we would spend $6.3 trillion next year, but it turns out it is going to be $7.2 trillion next year.” Of his resolution, Paul said, “My budget, … the Six Penny Plan budget, cuts 6 percent of all spending to rebalance in just 5 years.”

The Senate rejected Paul’s motion on September 16, 2025 by a vote of 36 to 62 (Roll Call 521). We have assigned pluses to the yeas not only because most government spending falls outside the scope of constitutionally authorized federal powers, but also because the federal government needs to start reining in ballooning federal spending and debt in order to avert future fiscal disaster. Although six percent may not seem like much, modest cuts are still better than none at all.

During consideration of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (S. 2296), Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) offered an amendment to prohibit any Federal Reserve bank from paying interest on reserve balances that are maintained at a Federal Reserve bank by or on behalf of a big bank or another depository institution. Of the need for his amendment, Paul explained, “The Federal Reserve pays both foreign and domestic banks to simply park their money in Fed accounts — in other words, to not loan money at all. Over the past 5 years, the Fed’s big bank bailout amounts to over half a trillion dollars…. My amendment ends these subsidies.”

The Senate rejected Paul’s amendment on October 9, 2025 by a vote of 14 to 83 (Roll Call 562). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the unconstitutional Federal Reserve should not bail out or subsidize banks at the expense of taxpayers.

S. J. Res. 90 would “direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress.”

On November 6, 2025, Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who introduced S. J. Res. 90 along with Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), attempted to get his resolution out of committee and to the Senate floor by making a motion to discharge it. His motion was rejected by a vote of 49 to 51 (Roll Call 608). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the Constitution delegates to Congress, not the president, the power to declare war, and because of the folly of foreign military interventionism. In his remarks on the Senate floor, Paul warned against “pursuing regime change in Venezuela,” while also pointing out that “the President simply does not have the authority to unilaterally launch wars.”

S. 3385 would extend enhanced ObamaCare subsidies, originally enacted under the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, by an additional three years.

The Senate did not vote directly on S. 3385, but on a motion to invoke cloture (and thus limit debate) so the bill could be voted on. The motion to invoke cloture was rejected on December 11, 2025 by a vote of 51 to 48 (Roll Call 644; a three-fifths majority of the entire Senate is required to invoke cloture). We have assigned pluses to the nays because Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution does not authorize Congress to subsidize health insurance. ObamaCare reduced individual choice in the health-insurance market, increased costs for many Americans, and has been poorly run from the beginning, exactly what is to be expected when the federal government attempts to regulate and subsidize healthcare.