Political positions of Rand Paul

He compared the practice to corporate welfare and stated that it was wrong that we "borrow billions of dollars from China, India, and Saudi Arabia then we loan it back to them again.

[23] In January 2018, Paul was one of thirty-six Republican senators to sign a letter to President Trump requesting he preserve the North American Free Trade Agreement by modernizing it for the current and future economy.

[32] Paul voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (NDAA)[33] and 2013,[34] both of which contain provisions in it that allow the U.S. government to indefinitely detain its citizens without due process.

"[36][37] Civil liberties groups, such as the ACLU, were concerned with this amendment because they think anyone on American soil should be given a trial if accused of a crime, given that the U.S. Constitution protects "persons," rather than "citizens.

"[46] He has been a sponsor or cosponsor of several legislative measures to effectively ban virtually all abortions by recognizing a legal right to life of human embryos from the moment of fertilization.

[84] On March 24, 2013, Paul suggested on Fox News that he wouldn't mind if the U.S. Supreme Court struck down "the federalization part" of the Defense of Marriage Act and he believes the issue should be left up to the states.

[94] On the same day, he said "All I can say is, we have a zero tolerance policy for anybody who displays discriminatory behavior or belief in discriminating against people based on the color of their skin, their religion, their sexual orientation, anything like that,"[95] On November 4, 2013, he voted against cloture for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013.

The documentary was controversial because it featured ex-homosexuals and Scott Lively, who claimed credit for Russian LGBT propaganda law and is linked to the 2014 Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act.

[110] Paul noted: "When you couple this militarization of law enforcement with an erosion of civil liberties and due process that allows the police to become judge and jury—national security letters, no-knock searches, broad general warrants, pre-conviction forfeiture—we begin to have a very serious problem on our hands."

"[112] On May 20, 2010, in an interview on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, he suggested he would have wanted to modify one section of the Civil Rights Act that dealt with private institutions, while keeping the parts prohibiting discrimination in the public sector.

"[125] Paul clarified his comments a few days later, stating that, "The point is that I have heard of – I mean who hasn't ever met a child who has a profound disability and in the parents' mind they see a connection.

Paul would support a free-market approach to health care, including tax deductions for medical expenses, and opposes federal regulations discouraging businesses from providing coverage.

[134] In February 2019, Paul was one of sixteen senators to vote against legislation preventing a partial government shutdown and containing $1.4 billion for barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border that included 55 miles of fencing.

[135] In March 2019, Paul was one of 12 Republican senators to vote to block President Trump's national emergency declaration that would have granted him access to $3.6 billion in military construction funding to build border barriers.

[143] Paul supports term limits, a balanced budget amendment, and the Read the Bills Act, in addition to the widespread reduction of federal spending and taxation.

[citation needed] Paul has expressed doubt about the fairness of mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, which require judges and prosecutors to impose substantial penalties, often including incarceration, on non-violent drug offenders.

[148] According to the Huffington Post, unlike his more stridently "non-interventionist" father, Paul sees a role for American armed forces abroad, including in permanent foreign military bases.

[158] After Donald Trump announced that America "will take over the Gaza strip," in February, 2025, Paul took to Twitter (now X) to criticize the statement, saying "The pursuit for peace should be that of the Israelis and the Palestinians.

[163] In 2020, Paul and Democratic senator Tom Udall offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would withdraw American troops from Afghanistan within a year and raise their salaries.

[165] In a July 2015 interview, President Obama spoke in favor of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and admitted few elected Republican officials would back the deal, adding, "It’ll be interesting to see what somebody like a Rand Paul has to say about this.

But if they’re complying with it, I think we should stay in it.”[168] In May 2018, after President Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, Paul said he believed it was "a mistake to leave" and added that it would negatively impact ongoing attempts to ease relations with North Korea by signaling the U.S. was not reliable.

[169] Following Patrick M. Shanahan announcing 1,000 more U.S. troops being deployed to the Middle East for defensive purposes in June 2019, Paul was one of six senators to sign a letter spearheaded by Tim Kaine and Mike Lee expressing concern that "increasingly escalatory actions" by both the US and Iran would "lead to an unnecessary conflict."

The senators noted that Congress had not authorized a war against Iran and requested "a joint Defense, State and Intelligence Community briefing by the end of June to address these policy and legal issues.

In 2018, Paul blocked a pair of bills which would authorize tens of billions of dollars of military aid to Israel, coming under fire from both Senate Republicans and Democrats.

[177] In March 2018, Paul voted against tabling a resolution spearheaded by Senators Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee, and Chris Murphy that would cease the U.S. military's support for Saudi Arabia's bombing operations in Yemen.

[178] In April 2019, after the House passed the resolution withdrawing American support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Paul was one of nine lawmakers to sign a letter to President Trump requesting a meeting with him and urging him to sign "Senate Joint Resolution 7, which invokes the War Powers Act of 1973 to end unauthorized U.S. military participation in the Saudi-led coalition's armed conflict against Houthi rebels, initiated in 2015 by the Obama administration."

"[181] Paul was the only member of the Foreign Relations Committee to not sign a letter to President Trump requesting he initiate an investigation into the Khashoggi's death under the Magnitsky Act.

Paul added that the only thing understood by the Saudis was "strength", citing this as the reason that if President Trump "wants to act strongly, he should cut off the arm sales.

[187] During a Louisville visit in April 2017, Paul stated his belief that although the U.S. would be "successful in a military campaign" against North Korea, no one wanted a war if it meant "millions of people would die".

"[188] In June 2018, after Senator Lindsey Graham suggested that Congress sign a military force authorization for the U.S. to take action against North Korea in the event that a diplomatic agreement was not reached during the North Korea–United States Singapore Summit, Paul called Graham "a danger to the country by even proposing ideas like authorizing war with Korea" and that his proposal "should be something that is seen as naive and seen as something that really serious people shouldn’t even really be discussing.