Rand Paul's Airing of Grievances #Festivus2025

[Occam's Banana]

https://x.com/RandPaul/status/2003561301260534156
to: https://x.com/RandPaul/status/2003561337478328480

I’m baaaaaack, and I’ve been checking out some of your grievances on X - it’s a good thing @elonmusk let free speech back on here. Some of you would definitely have been banned before. Some of you probably should lay off the eggnog before posting.

Speaking of @elonmusk - I am working on a list of people I would like to make sure you send on one of the first flights to Mars. Let’s chat soon.

Did you know @elonmusk has been vocal and helpful in supporting my friend @thomasmassie? I think it’s because Thomas has the only known Tesla with the Friends of Coal bumper sticker on it. The left doesn’t know what to do with that. Or the reclaimed Tesla batteries that run his off the grid house. It’s pretty awesome, actually.

One of the things that X does better under @elonmusk leadership now is that voices are heard when we disagree with those in power. I agree with much of what happens in this administration, but one very strong disagreement is happening right now: illegal acts of war and possible regime change in Venezuela

First of all, I think it’s just a little suspicious that Marco Rubio shut down an agency he was running, leaving him free to be the President of Venezuela as well as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor.

We checked with the Coast Guard, by the way, and they have a very admirable record of being 80 percent correct when boarding a suspected drug boat. But being 20 percent wrong isn’t quite as good when you’re blowing up the boats with missiles.

My colleagues in Congress are deserving of some grievances, too, so let’s move over to them.

This year, I tried repeatedly to shine a white hot, bright light on the out-of-control spending and debt, whether it was Biden-level CR spending or a $5 trillion debt ceiling hike. Both parties talk the talk, but guess what?

Congress did what it always does. Make little deals and get enough republicans to join the democrats in continuing their massive spending spree. Both parties are to blame, though right now the GOP controlling both houses and the White House makes it harder to spread the blame.

Ask yourself if the leadership of both parties is all that much different on spending or endless wars.

From bloated bureaucracy to Ukraine aid, from foreign aid to not funding our border security, it gets real hard to tell the difference.

My guess is that in 2026, Congress will go back to divided government. My question is, will anyone really notice?

Both parties ignored or harassed the cannabis industry. When Democrats controlled the House, Senate, and White House, we still couldn't get cannabis reform bills passed. I would go much further and end the federal war on a plant entirely, but at LEAST let legal businesses operate as legal businesses.

Then this year, the GOP largely legislated the Hemp industry out of business.

Thankfully, President Trump is rescheduling Cannabis by regulation, but Congress is still slower to act than a stoner on the couch in their parents’ basement.

Sorry, stoners, I can’t let you go completely.

The war on cannabis is among the many dumb things Congress does, but it’s by no means the dumbest. Every year, hundreds of billions of your dollars are wasted. Let’s look at a few more of the worst examples of that:

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I’ve got a few more things to say, but I’ll be back later. Go finish your shopping and baking for a while!

 

[Occam's Banana]

https://x.com/RandPaul/status/2003529343272948055
to: https://x.com/RandPaul/status/2003529374545666347

I am BACK, and I’m ready to air more grievances against government waste, Congress, Fauci, endless wars, foreign aid, and many, many others.

I have no grievances with @POTUS, zero, none, nada, zilch. Mr. President, I wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a successful third term.

…ok, do you think he stopped reading yet? Cause I do have one or two grievances, and I think we have to be fair and list them against both sides.
I have them all actually written right here on this note. I asked the DOJ to look at it first, here it is:

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Shit. They blacked out every single word. Why would they do that? Who are they protecting from my grievances??

Of course, my longest-standing beef with President Trump, who I really do like and work with often, is that we simply did not agree on Dr. Fauci. He gave him a microphone and a medal. I want to give him a subpoena and a jail cell.

I also had a lotta problems with Biden’s DOJ for ignoring my criminal referral of Fauci for lying to the American people.

In January, I sent a mountain of evidence to President Trump’s DOJ showing Fauci illegally destroyed federal records. Where is the indictment???

Of course, Fauci is far in the lead for government officials doing dumb or evil things - but he’s far from the only one.

I’ve also got a lotta problems with how government welfare programs are being abused and how nobody seems to want to talk about it.

Take Minnesota. The MN Medicaid fraudsters stole billions of your dollars. That’s why I’ll be reintroducing my bill to build a wall around welfare, so no legal or illegal aliens can get put on the dole. Welfare should be a safety net, not an ATM for fraudsters.

And Medicaid fraud is just one example of a much bigger problem.

That’s why every year I compile a Festivus waste report. If you want to read it all, visit . But I’ll tell you about some of my favorites here:

The festivus Report 2025 (PDF file): https://randpaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FESTIVUS_2025.pdf

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I’ll be back with more grievances, more waste, more holiday cheer in a little while. In the meantime, I hope you are all airing your grievances, too! Special grievances for Congress, foreign aid, and much more.