Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul says he won't vote to fund the government unless changes are made to the way the government spends money.
"The biggest things that's going on in the next few weeks is obviously the spending comes to end," the Kentucky senator said Monday on WVFS radio. "So as our fiscal year winds up if we don't pass anything government does shutdown. But the other side of that coin is if we don't do anything and we keep open without reforms, I think what we're doing is abdicating our role as being in charge of the power of the purse."
"We're basically saying that the status quo is fine, and I think the status quo makes us seriously ill as a nation and it can't go on," continued Paul. "So I will stand fast and say, 'unless we pass individual appropriation bills, unless we reform the spending process then I can't vote to just continue government on as is."
A government shutdown looms at the end of the month unless Congress passes a spending bill.
Many conservative Republicans in Congress are seeking to tie a bill to fund the government to defunding Planned Parenthood. The organization has come under scrutiny after an anti-abortion group released a series of videos claiming to show Planned Parenthood staffers harvesting fetal tissue for sale. Planned Parenthood has denied the allegations.
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