Rand Paul refuses to fast-track $1 billion in Iron Dome funding

• Author: RON KAMPEAS/JTA
• Published date: 01 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Paul on Thursday revealed himself to be the single senator refusing to "hotline" the bill now that it has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. "Hotlining" is when all 100 senators agree to allow a bill to go straight to the floor for a vote, substantially accelerating the process.

Paul is one of the most outspoken opponents of foreign assistance, and for a period a number of years ago proposed eliminating assistance to Israel. Now, a spokesperson for Paul told Politico that Paul will drop his objection to the Iron Dome hotlining if the $1 billion comes from proposed assistance to Afghanistan.

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Paul's stand is the latest wrinkle in a funding request that has roiled Congress. Progressives last week squelched a plan by the Democratic leadership in the House to slip the money into an unrelated emergency stopgap government funding bill, saying the last-minute inclusion undercut congressional conventions.

Instead, the Democratic leadership advanced the funding in a standalone bill, which the House approved...