Sen. Rand Paul is holding up a popular treaty ratifying Montenegro's membership in NATO. | AP Photo Rand Paul's latest lonely fight incenses fellow senators

Rand Paul is at it again.

It’s not enough for the Kentucky Republican to try to tank House Speaker Paul Ryan’s Obamacare repeal bill. He’s also driving his Senate colleagues crazy by holding up the one thing the Senate could do to quickly rebuke Russian President Vladimir Putin: pass a popular treaty ratifying Montenegro’s membership in NATO.


The dispute exploded on the Senate floor this month as Paul blocked Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) from bringing up the treaty. McCain said Paul is “working for” Putin; Paul responded that McCain is “past his prime.” But the anger toward Paul goes much deeper than just McCain — nearly the entire Senate wants to pass the treaty immediately.

“It’s a minority position, yeah,” Paul conceded with a smile.

That’s an understatement.

Senators and aides said the treaty could be passed easily if Paul would release his hold, sending a swift message to Russia that the United States isn’t stepping away from Eastern Europe, even with a NATO skeptic like Donald Trump as president. While Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is demanding a roll-call vote rather than passing the treaty with a quick request to do so unanimously, Paul is far more implacable and doesn’t want it to move forward at all.

“Montenegro doesn’t add a great deal to the national security of the United States,” Paul said in an interview. “For people who want Montenegro [in NATO], many of them want Ukraine and Georgia in there. And I think if you do that you have to be prepared to go to war with Russia.”

Due to Senate rules, Paul can single-handedly force the chamber to spend days on the measure, an impossible feat in the short term since Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is prioritizing a Supreme Court nominee and Obamacare repeal this spring.

That leaves the treaty stalled indefinitely and his colleagues steamed.

“He knows the vote will be 99-1,” said one angry Republican senator who requested anonymity to speak candidly about his colleague. “He could hold the floor for days. I just think it’s typical.”

“It’s not a stunt. I disagree with him. But these are things he really believes,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who champions a more interventionist foreign policy.

Notably, McCain’s charge that Paul is a Putin lapdog could have been a violation of Senate rules — but only if raised by another senator. No one came to his defense last week.

But Paul is unmoved, and said his message is in line with Trump’s: Adding another country to “overextended” NATO is unproductive when other countries aren’t meeting their defense spending obligations. Trump hasn’t commented publicly on the issue, but his administration may be lining up against Paul.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson fully support Montenegro’s accession into NATO. Sources said Vice President Mike Pence is also close to issuing a recommendation. Ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn was close to backing Montenegro’s entrance into NATO before he resigned.

An administration official said no final decision has been made. However, a Senate source said some White House officials have indicated support for Paul’s move to block NATO expansion because it is in line with Trump’s campaign platform.

“It was very useful what Sen. McCain did,” said Montenegrin Foreign Minister Srdjan Darmanović, who is in Washington meeting with Senate Foreign Relations Committee members and administration officials. “Sen. McCain exposed Sen. Paul being a very stubborn obstacle in the ratification.”

For Paul, it’s just one more example of him against the world. And these days it’s hard to keep track of his simultaneous fights.

Republicans close to GOP leaders in both chambers are highly annoyed at Paul’s high-profile quest to sink Ryan’s health care bill, which Paul calls “Obamacare-lite” every chance he gets. And while Democrats are entertained by his criticism of the Obamacare repeal efforts, they’re less enthused with his position on NATO.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) is also frustrated over the treaty’s delay, sources said, but is trying to work with Paul and declining to call out the senator publicly. Paul has also been blocking several international tax treaties with other countries favored by his colleagues for years.

Although some lawmakers are pushing for new Russian sanctions legislation, Montenegro’s accession to NATO is more doable in the near term. But McConnell, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Paul have been unable to come to a deal — and the Montenegro treaty could easily slip into the summer if Paul holds firm given the crowded calendar.

“It’s unfortunate. We’d like to see it done now,” said Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “This is a Republican fight, but we have the overwhelming majority of Republicans that are supporting it.”

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Meanwhile, Montenegro’s future is hanging in the balance as Russia asserts increasing influence in the small Balkan nation. Montenegro has spent more than seven years applying for NATO membership and the vast majority of NATO countries have approved the country’s acceptance into the alliance. The United States is one of the few left to endorse it.

NATO accession remains a highly controversial issue inside Montenegro. An opinion poll conducted in December 2016 has only 39.5 percent of Montenegrins in favor of NATO membership and 39.7 against. Russia has taken advantage of this division by bankrolling Montenegro’s Democratic Front, a stridently anti-NATO party that won 20 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections.

For Montenegro, time is of the essence. The longer the country remains out of NATO’s protective orbit, the more opportunities Putin has to meddle in the country’s internal affairs. The delay also hurts the stature of NATO and the United States, senators said.

“You tell them: ‘Go through these steps you’re going to be able to become part of our alliance.’ And they do and then you can’t [add them], it undermines the credibility of the alliance,” Rubio said. “That’s why I think you have 98 people that feel strong about it.”

Cardin said Paul wants a vote on one of his isolationist-leaning priorities in return for moving forward. The Kentucky Republican is a master of using the Senate floor for leverage, holding up popular items until he receives votes on priorities like slashing spending on foreign aid or obtaining information from government officials. But he said that’s not the case this time.

“I don’t know that we necessarily need [to send] a provocative message to Russia on Montenegro,” Paul said. “I’m holding it because of the issue. I’m not in favor of expanding NATO beyond what we have.”

