Sen. Rand Paul's budget legislation had not been expected to clear the procedural hurdle. | Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images congress Senate rejects Rand Paul’s balanced budget plan

Sen. Rand Paul’s plan to slash federal spending by $183.1 billion in fiscal 2020 didn’t survive a procedural hurdle tonight, with the Senate failing to advance the measure in a 22-69 vote.

The Kentucky Republican‘s bill aims to balance the federal budget in five years. Paul’s office said the proposal would yield a $913 billion surplus five years after the budget is balanced. Sixty votes were needed for the measure to advance.


After the vote, Paul noted he gained more votes than in previous efforts and said that he hoped the vote would serve as a litmus test to conservative voters: "Our hope is that people will see it at home and it may influence who they send back up here." He also lashed his party for hypocrisy on the debt and deficit.

"Every one of those Republicans goes home and tells constituents how conservative he is or she is and how they care about the deficit ... ask all these people if they care about the deficit, why'd they vote no?" Paul said in an interview afterward.

The legislation had not been expected to clear the procedural hurdle. The Senate likely won’t vote this year on the blueprint approved by its own budget panel.

Burgess Everett contributed to this report.

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