Sen. Rand Paul is pushing for a revised resolution that would lead to a balanced budget. | Getty Rand Paul pushing for GOP budget rebellion

Sen. Rand Paul is trying to spark a last-ditch rebellion against GOP leadership’s Obamacare repeal strategy, going across the Capitol on Thursday to woo conservative House Republicans to his side.

The Kentucky Republican met with nearly two dozen members of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus to urge them to withhold their support for the current GOP budget resolution, which is being used to fast-track Obamacare repeal. Paul is pushing for a revised resolution that would lead to a balanced budget.


“I wanted to make sure that conservatives in the House knew that together we can have some power and impact on what the budget will be,” the libertarian-leaning gadfly told reporters. On Wednesday, Paul was the sole Senate Republican to vote against beginning debate on the fiscal 2017 budget resolution, which he complained would add nearly $10 trillion to the national debt over a decade. Paul promised to push an amendment that would slash federal spending and end deficit spending in about five years.

He said he also warned Freedom Caucus members, who have frequently upended House GOP leadership’s plans, that their support for this budget might lead to more deficit spending in a future budget set to be taken up in the spring. That budget resolution is expected to provide procedural steps to take up a filibuster-proof tax reform bill, another top GOP priority.

“The Republican leadership can come back and say, you already voted for it once. Why won’t you vote for it a second time?” Paul said. “Why don’t you just eat a bad budget, take a bad budget in order to get tax reform?”

Paul acknowledged “an uphill battle” in the Senate; other conservative Republicans like Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah and Marco Rubio of Florida promised to back the budget, which includes provisions to gut the health law through a powerful procedural tool known as budget reconciliation that cannot be filibustered by Senate Democrats.

So Paul has turned to the House, where about two dozen Republicans can prevent House Speaker Paul Ryan from moving forward with the budget. But for now, the rebellious Freedom Caucus, which counts about 40 members, is holding its fire.

Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) told reporters the ad hoc gathering was “very enlightening” and “gave us food for thought.” He said the group will meet formally next week to consider an official position on the budget. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the group’s former chairman, also said it was a good meeting but that firmer decisions would come next week.

Some members of the group, which opposed last year’s GOP budget because it didn’t cut spending sufficiently, appear ready to back leadership. Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.) told reporters Wednesday that he was inclined to support the budget because of “other stuff that’s coming down the pipe,” including tax cuts, regulatory relief and Obamacare repeal. “That’s the whole context,” he said.

Paul said afterward that he believes the Freedom Caucus is “heading toward a consensus” on the position that Republicans should have a replacement bill ready when they repeal the health care law.

Burgess Everett contributed to this report.