Rand Paul: Harry Reid is "a big bully"

The Kentucky senator is not happy with Democrats' changes to the filibuster

Published November 21, 2013 9:25PM (EST)

Rand Paul                                (Reuters/Jason Reed)
Rand Paul (Reuters/Jason Reed)

Responding to the Democrats' move to invoke the so-called nuclear option by changing the rules governing use of the filibuster, Sen. Rand Paul said on Thursday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is "a big bully."

"I think what we really need is an anti-bullying ordinance in the Senate," Paul said to CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "I mean, now we've got a big bully — Harry Reid says he's just going to break the rules and make new rules. He's gotta have everything his way; he's gotta control everything. This is more about them trying to control the agenda, and shift it away from Obamacare, than it is anything else."

For his part, Reid defended the move by citing the unprecedented level of filibustering enacted by Senate Republicans during the Obama presidency. "In the history of the republic, there have been 168 filibusters of executive and judicial nominations. Half of them have occurred during the Obama Administration," Reid said. President Obama, too, voiced his approval of the Senate's new filibuster rules, saying "enough is enough" when it comes to GOP obstruction.

Watch Paul's comments below, via Politico:


By Elias Isquith

Elias Isquith is a former Salon staff writer.

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