Tag: rand paul

Sen. Rand Paul Slams Strikes on Boats in Caribbean as ‘Extrajudicial Killings’

Senator Rand Paul blasted President Donald Trump’s strikes on alleged drug traffickers as unconstitutional and illegal. 

“A briefing is not enough to overcome the Constitution. The Constitution says that when you go to war, Congress has to vote on it. … The drug war, or the crime war, has typically been dealt with through law enforcement,” Paul said on Fox News Sunday. “And so far they have alleged that these people are drug dealers … and we’ve had no evidence presented. So at this point we would call them extrajudicial killings.” 

So far, the Department of War has bombed ten boats it claims are smuggling narcotics into the US. Nine of the strikes have been on vessels in the Caribbean, against alleged cartels linked to Venezuela. The White House has not provided evidence that the ships were carrying drugs. 

“So far, they have alleged that these people are drug dealers. No one said their name. No one said what evidence. No one said whether they’re armed. And we’ve had no evidence presented,” Paul said.

One survivor of a strike was released by Ecuador, finding he was not engaged in wrongdoing when the boat was attacked. One family member said a victim of a US strike was a fisherman, and not working for a cartel. 

Trump has discussed expanding the strikes into Venezuela and has given the CIA approval to conduct lethal operations against cartels. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claims that Venezuelan President Maduro is the leader of a cartel designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. 

If Trump elects to expand the war, he told reporters that he will brief Congress on the plans. He went on to say he did not have to discuss the matter with the Legislator and has not sought a Declaration of War. 

The Constitution explicitly grants Congress the authority to Declare War. However, the principle of preventing the President from unilaterally declaring war has been eroded over time. Congress has not declared war since World War 2 II. The last Authorization for Use of Military Force was passed in 2002 for the Iraq War. 

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Rand Paul Dismantles Ex-CDC Chief in Brutal Senate Showdown

Ex-CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez testified today before the Senate HELP Committee in a desperate attempt to smear RFK Jr.’s name and build pressure for him to resign.

But things didn’t go according to plan. Senator Rand Paul wasn’t about to let that happen. After Monarez got a few softball questions from Bernie Sanders and others, Paul stepped in with the tough ones.

He started with the basics—asking if the COVID vaccines actually stop transmission.

PAUL: “Does the COVID vaccine prevent transmission?”

MONAREZ: “The COVID vaccine can reduce viral load in individuals who are—”

PAUL: “Does it prevent transmission?”

MONAREZ: “When you have reduced viral load… you will have reduced transmission.”

PAUL: “But in other words, it DOESN’T prevent transmission. You can still transmit the virus if you’ve had the vaccine.”

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Paul: Gay CDC official’s ‘lifestyle’ disqualified him from government

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that a gay leader at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who resigned last week in protest of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had “no business being in government” due to the “lifestyle” he led.

Demetre Daskalakis, former director of the CDC’s Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, was among the four CDC leaders who resigned last week, saying in their resignations that the changes under Kennedy were preventing them from carrying out the agency’s public health mission.

“One of the guys that is the biggest proponent of doing all this is the guy who describes the risky behavior that he and his lifestyle involve,” Paul said when asked about the exodus in CDC leadership Tuesday evening, referring to Daskalakis.

Paul was discussing his opposition to infant vaccinations against hepatitis B when asked.

“A guy that is so far … out of the mainstream, I think most people in America would discount his opinion because of the things he said in the past. He does not represent the mainstream of anything in America,” Paul continued.

“He should have never had a position in government. And he brags about his lifestyle, you know, this whole idea of bondage and, you know, multiple partners and all that stuff. He brags about that stuff, but he’s got no business being in government. It’s good riddance.”

GOP Rep. Buddy Carter (Ga.) has also criticized Daskalakis for his personal life, calling him a “BDSM Satan worshipper” on CNN on Sunday.

Since resigning, Daskalakis has forcefully spoken out against Kennedy in the media, saying in an interview Sunday that he can “only see harm coming” from the secretary’s policies. He has specifically criticized actions by the Health and Human Services Department that limit access to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

In 2021, Daskalakis posed for the cover of Plus Magazine wearing a leather harness, an article of clothing popular among gay men and tied to the gay leather and BDSM communities. The cover and other posts Daskalakis made on social media have come under scrutiny in conservative media since his resignation.

Daskalakis came to wider public recognition when he led the CDC’s response to the 2022 mpox outbreak that primarily affected the social networks of men who have sex with men.

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Sen. Rand Paul SHUTS DOWN Ex-CDC Official Trashing RFK Jr. With a Single Statement

The man on the right is the CDC’s former immunization chief.

He quit his job over RFK Jr. — and now he’s on a media tour attacking him.

But Rand Paul just put him in his place with three simple sentences.

And it all started when the “scientist” on the right made a hysterical warning about the very first vaccine given to infants.

Meet Dr. Demetre Daskalakis.

He was the CDC’s director of immunizations until the Trump administration, with RFK Jr. leading HHS, fired CDC Director Susan Monarez after disagreements with Kennedy over vaccine policy.

Dr. Daskalakis immediately resigned. In his fiery resignation letter, he claimed that political interference was undermining science and endangering the public, warning, “Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults.”

Since then, he’s been making media rounds, seizing every opportunity to attack RFK Jr.

For context, the hepatitis B vaccine was moved to the childhood schedule in 1991 after it failed to receive uptake among the targeted risk group, specifically, intravenous drug users and those who participate in risky sex.

Children engage in neither, and the hepatitis B vaccine provides protection for only about 6 to 7 years (estimates vary), raising serious questions about why this particular shot is pushed on children at birth.

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GOP Senator Threatens To Block Spending Bill If Hemp THC Product Ban Stays In, Sources Say

A GOP senator is threatening to hold up a major spending bill unless changes are made to provisions that would currently ban most consumable hemp products, which stakeholders say would decimate the industry.

Multiple sources familiar with discussions around the legislation tell Marijuana Moment that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is intent on preventing the outright ban that was included in the Senate’s agriculture appropriations bill that advanced out of committee and now awaits floor action.

The prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) Action sent out an alert to its supporters on Friday, urging them to contact their representatives to push back against Paul’s efforts.

“The United States Senate is poised to overwhelmingly pass legislation banning hemp intoxicants, but Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is holding the bill hostage until he kills the hemp language,” it said. “Senator Paul wants to create a carve out for THC products like hemp beverages, in effect legalizing marijuana federally.”

While one source indicated that the senator was primarily focused on creating a carveout for hemp-derived THC beverages, two others who are aware of the conversations told Marijuana Moment that wasn’t the case. The exact scope of what Paul is aiming to achieve is unclear, but they say the senator is seeking a more holistic change to the controversial hemp language in the bill.

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Rand Paul Says he will Reissue Criminal Referral of Autopen Pardon Recipient Anthony Fauci to Trump DOJ Amid New York Times Confirmation that Fauci Pardon was Not Approved by Biden

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) announced on Monday that he will once again submit a criminal referall of Dr. Anthony Fauci to the Deparment of Justice after the New York Times reported that White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zeints approved of Dr. Fauci’s pardon. 

Previously, Rand Paul referred Fauci to the Department of Justice for prosecution, following his testimony on the NIH’s role in funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab in 2021.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, the New York Times also reviewed some of the emails that the National Archives handed over to the Trump DOJ as part of their investigation into the autopen scandal and confirmed that Fauci’s pardon was not approved by Biden. Rather, “White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zeints actually approved pardons for Dr. Fauci and others on January 19,” they report.

“Biden did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people, he and aides confirmed,” the Times reported.

Joe Biden told the New York Times that he “orally granted all the pardons and commutations issued at the end of his term” and lashed out at President Trump as a “liar” for claiming the autopen was used without his authorization.

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Rand Paul Files Bill To Triple Federal THC Limit For Hemp As House Pursues Crackdown On Consumable Cannabinoids

As the hemp industry raises concerns about congressional attempts to ban most consumable cannabinoid products, a GOP senator has filed a bill that would triple the concentration of THC that the crop could legally contain, while addressing multiple other concerns the industry has expressed about federal regulations.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the legislation, titled the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act, last week. It mirrors versions he’s sponsored over the last several sessions.

Hemp and its derivatives were legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, but the industry has experienced multiple setbacks in the years since—and the proliferation of intoxicating cannabinoid products has led to pushes in Congress and state legislatures across the country to reign in the largely unregulated market.

To that point, a GOP-led House committee this week approved a spending bill containing provisions that hemp stakeholders say would devastate the industry, prohibiting most consumable cannabinoid products that were federally legalized during the first Trump administration.

The legislation would “effectively” criminalize hemp-derived cannabinoid products, including CBD, according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.

In contrast, the newly reintroduced measure from Paul would address one of the most common complaints that lawmakers have heard from hemp businesses under the current law, which is that the crop is federally defined as containing no more than 0.3 percent THC by dry weight. They say that’s too low, and so the bill would increase that threshold to 1 percent.

It would also address potential problems with testing requirements under U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations. Hemp processors currently get a 15-day window to test the crop’s flower to ensure that the THC concentration is within the allowed limits. But testing flower can be onerous and farmers have said it would stretch their resources thin, not to mention that the plant’s THC is significantly impacted by external factors.

To fix that issue, the bill calls for final hemp products themselves to be tested, rather than the initial flower from the plant.

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Musk Fired-Up About Paul’s Rescission Idea For Slashing Spending Up To $500 Billion

Seeking to codify spending cuts pursued by his Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk held a closed-door lunch with Republican senators on Wednesday. Musk was said to be “elated” with Sen. Rand Paul’s recommendation to make the cuts stick with a relatively expeditious budget-slashing technique called “rescission.” The approach could guide DOGE cuts around federal judges who consider executive-branch-initiated spending cuts as exceeding constitutional authority. 

Rescission offers a means by which presidents can collaborate with Congress to cancel previously-appropriated spending. Enabled by Title X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, the rarely-used process starts with the president sending a special message to Congress, providing specific details about which budgetary authorities he wants to rescind. 

With Republicans holding a narrow 53-47 Senate majority, one of the most attractive aspects of rescission is that it doesn’t require 60 votes — a simple majority suffices to grant the president’s wish. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley told reporters that Musk was “elated” with Paul’s proposal: “I think he didn’t realize it could be done at 51.” According to South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham, it was the first time Musk had heard of the rescission process. He said Musk reacted by triumphantly lifting his arms into the air.  

The approach promises to immunize DOGE spending cuts from federal judges who are skeptical about the executive branch’s power to cut spending that was duly authorized by Congress. This week has seen two major developments that demonstrate the strength of that judicial headwind:

Rescission is an alternative to “impoundment,” by which presidents unilaterally delay Congressionally-directed spending. First used by Thomas Jefferson, the method was restricted by the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA) after Democrats felt President Nixon was abusing it. Trump has called ICA “a disaster of a law” and vowed to “do everything I can to challenge [it] in court, and if necessary, get Congress to overturn it.” However, as noted above, the same law provides the opportunity for rescission, which means Trump can use ICA to his advantage. 

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Senator Rand Paul Vows to Continue Investigation on Madman Tony Fauci

If there was ever any doubt as to who bears responsibility for the COVID pandemic, Biden’s pardon of Fauci forever seals the deal.

As Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee I will not rest until the entire truth of the coverup is exposed.

Fauci’s pardon will only serve as an accelerant to pierce the veil of deception.

Ignominious! Anthony Fauci will go down in history as the first government scientist to be preemptively pardoned for a crime.

On Monday morning, Senator Rand Paul, the Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee announced he will continue his probe into Fauci and his many lies and will not rest until the entire truth of the coverup is exposed.

Senator Rand Paul: If there was ever any doubt as to who bears responsibility for the COVID pandemic, Biden’s pardon of Fauci forever seals the deal.

As Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee I will not rest until the entire truth of the coverup is exposed.

Fauci’s pardon will only serve as an accelerant to pierce the veil of deception.

Ignominious! Anthony Fauci will go down in history as the first government scientist to be preemptively pardoned for a crime.

Senator Paul posted this on X.

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Rand Paul Drops the Hammer: Denver Mayor May Be REMOVED FROM OFFICE Over Defiance of Trump’s Deportation — ‘It’s a Form of Insurrection’

In a fiery appearance on Face the Nation, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) issued a stern warning to Denver Mayor Mike Johnston over his open defiance of federal immigration laws and President Trump’s promised deportation efforts.

“You know, I’m 100% supportive of going after the 15,000 murderers, the 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators, rapists—let’s send them on their way to prison or back home to another prison,” Paul asserted.

However, he made it clear that such efforts must not involve deploying the U.S. Army domestically, a move Paul deemed both unconstitutional and dangerous.

“We’ve had a long-standing distrust of putting the Army into our streets,” Paul explained. “The police understand the Fourth Amendment. They go to judges, get warrants, and ensure specificity. So, I’m for removing these people, but through the normal process of domestic policing.”

Calling the mayor’s actions a “form of insurrection,” Paul declared that Johnston could face removal from office and potential legal consequences if he continues down this path.

“The mayor of Denver, if he’s going to resist federal law, which is a long-standing history of the supremacy of federal law, if he’s going to resist that, it will go all the way to the Supreme Court,” said Paul.

“I would suspect that he would be removed from office. I don’t know whether or not there’d be a criminal prosecution for someone resisting federal law, but he will lose. People need to realize that what he is offering is a form of insurrection where the states resist the federal government.”

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