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Congress agreed to put a bipartisan emergency spending package to curb the spread of COVID-19 up for a House vote Wednesday, but it may get held up by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who wants to include an amendment to the bill.Paul, a deficit hawk, wants to ensure the U.S. has some way to fund the COVID-19 package, so he's trying to sneak a foreign aid cut in there. Paul is confident he'll get a vote, but he's prepared to stick around in Washington all weekend either way.> "We will have an amendment to pay for it," Paul told me. "We've talked to the powers that be and let them know...that we'll have an amendment to offset it. If we dont get the amendment, we can stay here all weekend for all I care." Paul says he thinks he'll get a vote, though> > — Trish Turner (@caphilltrish) March 4, 2020Paul is certainly consistent when it comes to spending bills. Over the summer, he was opposed to passing the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund (which also had bipartisan support), arguing that he'll "always take a stand against borrowing more money to pay for programs rather than setting priorities and cutting waste."As for the new coronavirus, Paul said Tuesday thinks there's "room for optimism," noting that he could see it dissipating more quickly than people are portraying.More stories from theweek.com Trump is now trying to blame Obama for his coronavirus response How Bernie blew it The anybody-but-Bernie comeback
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