Rand Paul says he was not invited to the White House's Rose Garden luncheon

Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday claimed that he had not been invited to a Rose Garden lunch at the White House with his colleagues in the upper chamber to discuss the ongoing government shutdown.

The lunch was intended to be a display of unity within the Republican conference and President Donald Trump, but Paul has been consistently voting against a continuing resolution that would restore federal funding through Nov. 21.

Republicans continue to express an openness to discuss extending healthcare subsidies as part of an omnibus measure to fully fund the government, but only after Democrats agree to the continuing resolution.

"I actually wasn’t invited to the White House lunch today, but that’s ok," Paul wrote on X. "I had a previously scheduled Liberty Caucus Lunch with ⁦[Thomas Massie]."

Trump commented on Paul's absence during the luncheon, stating that if Paul had pushed for an invitation, he would have "begrudingly" allowed the senator to come.

“We have everybody but one person here,” Trump said, per Politico. “We’re just missing one person. You’ll never guess who that is. Let me give you — he automatically votes no on everything. He thinks it’s good politics. It’s really not good politics.”

The Rose Garden event is not the first time Paul claimed he was not invited to a prestigious White House affair. Paul also claimed in June that he had been uninvited to the White House party over his opposition to federal spending in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill." The White House later denied that the senator was uninvited. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.