Rand Paul vows to trim border security funding in 'big, beautiful bill'

A defiant Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has vowed to reduce border security funding in the "big, beautiful bill" through his seat as head of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

The budget hawk has earned the ire of the MAGA movement, not necessarily for his demand to cut spending, but for his focus on border funding considered crucial to President Donald Trump's policy efforts.

The House has allocated $150 billion for such efforts, though Paul has insisted he would recommended roughly half that sum, declaring the government can accomplish the same goals with less money, The Hill reported.

“The wall, if you look at the [Customs and Border Protection (CBP)] website — until they removed it yesterday — they said it would cost $6.5 million per mile” he said. “If you add that up for about 1,000 miles that’s $6.5 billion. They asked for $46.5 billion, so they got a math problem."

He further insisted that his version of the bill would be the "conservative version."