Senate

Rand, Ron Paul rip Cruz for missing Audit the Fed vote

by Jordain Carney - 01/12/16 4:44 PM ET

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) ripped Sen. Ted Cruz on Tuesday after the Texas Republican skipped a vote on his “Audit the Fed” proposal.

Paul, who is competing with Cruz for the Republican presidential nomination, said he was “disappointed” Cruz “didn’t show up for work” for a procedural vote on Paul’s legislation.

{mosads}He tweeted a photo of Cruz, saying that voters “can’t even trust Ted to show up to vote on an issue as important as Audit the Fed.”

Senate Democrats blocked Paul’s legislation — which would increase congressional oversight of the central bank, including requiring it get audited by the Government Accountability Office — in a 53-44 vote.

The Texas Republican supports Paul’s legislation, signing on as a cosponsor to both the bill defeated on Tuesday as well as a separate proposal that has stalled in the Senate Banking Committee

Paul’s father, former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), also hit Cruz for skipping the vote even though he supports the legislation.

“Ted Cruz says he is for Auditing the Fed, but when the Senate voted on Rand’s bill, Ted was nowhere to be found,” he said.

Cruz missed the vote because he is campaigning in New Hampshire. Even if he had voted in favor of Paul’s bill on Tuesday, the legislation would have still been short of the 60 votes needed to overcome Tuesday’s procedural hurdle.

Paul has repeatedly criticized Sen. Marco Rubio for skipping Senate votes to campaign for president. The Florida Republican voted in favor of Paul’s legislation.

According to GovTrack, Cruz has missed 24 percent of Senate roll call votes over the past year, second only to Rubio.

Tags 2016 GOP primary GOP primary Rand Paul Ron Paul Ted Cruz