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Sen. Rand Paul is replacing Sen. Ted Cruz as the key conservative troublemaker in Congress, The Hill is reporting.

The Kentucky Republican is fighting to get a group of House conservatives to vote against the GOP's healthcare reform legislation in hopes of convincing House Speaker Paul Ryan to open negotiations on the proposed bill.

"There's really no negotiating going on," Paul told The Hill. "Ryan is giving up nothing until he determines he doesn't have enough votes. If we get to the point where he doesn't have enough votes, then he'll negotiate."

While continuing to try to get some colleagues to oppose the bill, Paul has talked with President Donald Trump about his concerns, WDRB-TV in Kentucky noted.

"I've talked to him several times about how we make healthcare better in the country, and he says he's open to compromise," said Paul.

But first Paul is trying to show there is enough opposition to the bill to bring about a compromise. The Hill reported Paul is hoping to convince conservative Republicans on the House Budget Committee to join him in opposing the bill.

"If they pass it unanimously out of the Budget Committee, my guess is there's not going to be much compromise," Paul said.

And he is also urging House Republicans to vote against the rule that would bring the healthcare reform bill to the floor.

The move has brought about comparisons to Sen. Cruz, R-Texas,, who had pressured GOP leaders to hold-up a government funding bill in 2013 to protest the implementation of Obamacare.

"That's what Cruz did a few years ago," The Hill quoted on unnamed Republican senator.

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Sen. Rand Paul Stirring Up Trouble for GOP Healthcare Plan - Newsmax

Rand Paul suggested Sunday that everyone is missing the real story behind President Trump's tweets about being wiretapped.

Trump or his associates, the Kentucky senator speculated, may have been caught up in surveillance targeted at foreign actors.

"I think everybody has been getting this story wrong," Paul said in an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation." "I doubt that Trump was a target directly of any kind of eavesdropping, but I'm not saying it didn't happen. I think there's a very good chance it does."

Last weekend, Trump issued several tweets alleging that President Obama tapped his calls. The White House hasn't provided evidence for the assertion, which Obama has denied.

Paul, a prominent critic of the scope of the government's surveillance practices, theorized Sunday that Trump's communications, or those of Mike Flynn, the retired general and supporter who briefly served as Trump's national security adviser before being dismissed for misleading the administration, could have been caught up in existing surveillance programs.

Wiretaps authorized under foreign intelligence laws targeted at foreigners, Paul noted, often capture them communicating with U.S. citizens what he referred to as a "backdoor search of Americans." When that happens, the Americans' communications are meant to be masked, but even low-level intelligence employees can unmask them, Paul said.

"That's probably what happened to Flynn," Paul said, qualifying his remarks by saying that he has no inside knowledge of what happened. "They're not targeting Americans, they're targeting foreigners. But they're doing it purposefully to get to Americans."

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Rand Paul: Everyone's missing the story on Trump wiretapping - Washington Examiner

President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan have tried to present a unified front on the GOPs health care bill, but a top Republican critic of that legislation on Sunday tried to stoke divisions between the two.

Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, said flatly that he doesnt believe the president is fully committed to the legislation as currently written. The House Republican leadership, he added, is presenting a false choice between the status quo or the current alternative proposal backed by Mr. Ryan.

I think theres a separation between the two, Mr. Paul told CBS Face the Nation. Ive talked to the president I think three times on Obamacare and I hear from him that hes willing to negotiate. You know what I hear from Paul Ryan? Its a binary choice, young man. But what does a binary choice mean? His way or the highway?

Mr. Paul said he doesnt think the bill, as it stands now, will get the needed 51 votes in the Senate.

For his part, Mr Ryan admitted that not everyone is fully happy with the bill that said that Republicans have an obligation to act.

Obamacare is collapsing. If we just did nothing, washed our hands of the situation, we would see a further collapse of the health insurance market, he said on Face the Nation. So, we feel an obligation to step in front of that collapse and replace this law with one that works, that has more freedom.

Mr. Ryan also said the White House has been extremely helpful in promoting the replacement package and helping craft the details of it.

Administration officials on Sunday stongly promoted the legislation. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price told NBCs Meet the Press that nobody will be worse off financially under the Republican replacement plan.

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Rand Paul stokes division between Donald Trump, Paul Ryan on health care bill - Washington Times

Washington Examiner

Sen. Rand Paul on Trump's Wiretapping Claim: 'Everybody Has ... CNSNews.com If President Barack Obama wiretapped President Donald Trump, as Trump has claimed, the House intelligence committee expects the Justice Department to ... Rand Paul: Everyone's missing the story on Trump wiretapping ...Washington Examiner all 2 news articles »

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Sen. Rand Paul on Trump's Wiretapping Claim: 'Everybody Has ... - CNSNews.com

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) appears on CBS Face the Nation on March 12, 2017.

CBS News

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) hasnt been shy about his issues with the Republican health care overhaul plan -- and on Sunday, he said congressional conservatives are not going to vote for it.

Right now I think theres a charm offensive going on -- everybodys being nice to everybody because they want us to vote for this, but were not going to vote for it, Paul told CBS Face the Nation.

Paul said House Speaker Paul Ryan is pitching the health care bill as a binary choice between his overhaul plan and Obamacare as it currently stands -- and isnt interested in negotiating with the more conservative members of his party.

What were hearing is a binary choice is that its the Ryan plan or the status quo, he said. And what hes rammed through his committee is his, without any amendments, and thats the question. If we get what weve got from Ryan, Obamacare lite, he will not have the votes.

The biggest problem with the new GOP plan, Paul said, is that it doesnt fix the fundamental problem with Obamacare.

The one primary thing thats wrong with Obamacare thats visible to everybody is that premiums are rising through the roof, soaring in the individual market, Paul said. That will happen under the Ryan plan as well because they do nothing to fix the fundamental problem.

He repeatedly referred to the bill as Obamacare lite, saying it keeps the major components of Obamacare in place: it includes insurance subsidies, keeps certain taxes in place for one year, keeps the Cadillac tax in place indefinitely and still contains a penalty for people who dont get insurance.

Paul said the bill is currently in the pre-negotiation phase -- and that he believes President Donald Trump is open to negotiating.

I dont think the president is rigid in support of the House bill, I think hes open to seeing how we can get consensus, he said. And what Ive told the president is what Im telling everybody: were united on repeal, not so much on replacement. We do not agree with the fundamental three or four things that the ryan has: subsidies, taxes, mandates and insurance bailout.

Asked about Mr. Trumps claims that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the 2016 campaign, Paul said he doesnt believe the Obama administration directly targeted Mr. Trump for wiretapping -- but that they may have picked up conversations of his associates while wiretapping foreign individuals.

I doubt that Trump was a target directly of any kind of eavesdropping but Im not saying it didnt happen, I think theres a very good chance it does, he said. I dont have any special information but the way it works is the FISA court ... wiretaps foreigners and then listens to Americans. Its a backdoor search of Americans.

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Rand Paul: Conservatives "not going to vote for" GOP health care plan - CBS News