Brian Darling

We spend more on interest on our national debt than on our entire defense budget—a staggering reality that will only get worse if we don’t act. The Penny Plan balances the budget by cutting just one cent from every dollar. It’s time for real fiscal responsibility. forbes.com/sites/dougmelv…

Relative to one year ago, total gross national debt is $2.64 trillion higher; relative to five years ago, it is $10.86 trillion higher. This is why Congress must pass my Penny Plan. us-debt-clock.com

5 yrs ago, Congress voted down my plan to shave just 2 pennies off every dollar of projected spending. If they had passed it then, the budget would be balanced today — and we'd be paying down debt instead of piling on trillions more. Now it takes six pennies off every dollar just to balance it in the next five years. And Washington has already voted no on that, too.

🚨 Sen. @RandPaul expertly explains why you SHOULD care about mass governmnet surveillance, even if you're "not doing anything wrong." Most people have no idea it works like this 👇

The Treasury just quietly admitted the U.S. government is insolvent. $47.78 trillion in liabilities. $6.06 trillion in assets. My Six Penny Plan would balance the budget in five years. But that would require the government to actually stop spending money it doesn't have. finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy…

Our national debt is the greatest threat to our national security. The Iran war costs $1-2 billion a day. Farmers need billions to offset tariff losses. Storm damage needs billions more. None of it is paid for. All of it is borrowed. And Washington just keeps spending.

Eastward is Mordor!

SEN. RAND PAUL’S PLAN TO TACKLE AMERICA’S DEBT @RandPaul details that true budget reform would require cutting all spending, including mandatory programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps—not just discretionary areas. Food stamp eligibility should be more limited, and that both parties avoid making tough cuts, even as rising debt becomes the biggest national threat. @AmandaHead @jsolomonReports

What if we cut six cents from every dollar the government spends? Not just the one-third Congress actually votes on. All of it. The budget balances in five years.

@jameswallner Agree. Did not know about the filling of cloture frequently to expedite the process. thehill.com/opinion/congre…

The SAVE America Act has stalled after 3 days of Senate debate. Republicans can't get 60 votes for cloture. Thune says a talking filibuster is "too risky." But there's a clear procedural path to a final vote — and it's already in the Senate rules. 🧵

Full breakdown — including the Rule XIX precedents, quorum call limits, and how Democrats' countermoves backfire — at LegislativeProcedure.com: 👉 legislativeprocedure.com/blog/2026/3/19…

@Radioblogger 3. After cloture fails, keep the bill on floor and don’t fill tree and don’t file cloture - in other words - commence a Talking Filibuster with all that comes with that.

@Radioblogger 2. Make a motion to reconsider and not dispense by tabling so he can bring it up at a later date.

And yet it's the influencers on the right who can't seem to do the math. Unless you break the legislative filibuster, which is not going to happen, it could be a 90-10 issue. If you don't have 60% of the votes in the Senate, you cannot file final cloture. @SeanMDav has helped orchestrate his own version of the Schumer shutdown. It was always a box canyon. The SAVE Act should pass, and it's vital that it does. The votes are not there to do it, no matter what voodoo is spun up to get people animated. Both statements are true. Voting Republican once in 2024 was never the deal. The hole Democrats dug was deeper than a one-term deal. Bending over and rending yourself in two might make you feel better, but it doesn't help the country. There are 46 Democrats, excepting John Fetterman, who are the problem on almost everything. If you want to purge the RINO's from the GOP, work to get to 75 votes in the Senate, then purge to your heart's delight down to 60.

@Radioblogger Because Thune filled the amendment tree - his amendments are the only ones pending. Dems can’t offer amendments. To table en block - need consent.

@Radioblogger Once Thune filled the amendment tree, the only way to get a vote without allowing Dem Amendments is to file cloture. This is not a talking filibuster. Seems like they wanted to avoid tabling votes on D amendments.

@BrianHDarling ok. that's a completely different strategy. Sen. Lee said repeatedly you didn't need to file cloture. Does that mean Dems can run out the clock, at least in theory?

@Radioblogger All the amendments would be subject to filibuster if voted on. It is likely that Thune will file cloture on the underlying bill at some point setting up 60 votes to shut down debate. The only way to grind down the opposition is to file cloture multiple times to grind the Ds down.

so now that SAVE Act is on, whatever differences I had in strategy are put aside. I'm all in. My question on tactics now, since I haven't seen it anywhere, yet, is on the amendments Thune filed once the bill passed the privileged motion vote to get to the floor. All Thune's amendments are privileged, and my understanding is they get voted on first. I'm assuming they limit the amount and scope of the amendments allowable by the minority, and only have to have a simple majority vote. Unclear whether every Democrat can speak twice on each amendment Thune puts in the tree, but my assumption is they can. But do we know what limits Thune has set up, amendment-wise? That way, we can begin to game this out as to what it will look like, time-wise. Again, I want the bill to pass. If this is the only way, and the conference is behind it, i'm all for it.

@EWErickson There is also a rule to judge a man by his actions. Kent enlisted at 17 and served eleven combat tours for the Army. That is 11 more tours than both of us combined by … 11.

There's a rule in conservative politics that a man is rarely to the right of his wife. Joe Kent lost his first wife in war and remarried a woman who now works for a far-left anti-Israel, pro-Iran website. Kent should have never been appointed to anything in the Trump admin.

@BasedMikeLee @LeaderJohnThune My take on the Talking Filibuster thehill.com/opinion/congre…

🚨Important Status Update Regarding the SAVE America Act 🚨 We’re making serious progress @LeaderJohnThune and his team have been working closely with us