2026 Senate Liberty Index: Rand Paul Stands Firm While Others Cave

The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) has released its 2026 Liberty Index for the U.S. Senate, and once again, Senator Rand Paul leads the pack with a near-perfect score of 99. While high scores were more common in previous years, this year’s results show a stark drop-off: the next highest were Senator Mike Lee at 65 and Senator Ted Cruz at 62.Last month, the RLC released its House scorecard, which painted a disappointing picture of Congress. Unfortunately, the Senate version tells a similar story of missed opportunities and abandoned priorities. Consider these examples of Senator Paul’s leadership:

He offered an amendment to S. Con. Res. 7 that would have achieved $1.4 trillion in deficit reduction over eight years. Only 24 Senators supported it.
He proposed an amendment to H.R. 1968 that would have codified proposed DOGE cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Just 27 Senators voted yes.
An amendment to H. Con. Res. 14 sought to scale back a proposed debt ceiling increase from $4 trillion to a more restrained $500 billion. Only five Senators backed this effort.
Paul also sponsored S. Con. Res. 22, which called for a 6% across-the-board spending cut each year for five years until the budget is balanced. It garnered support from only 36 Senators.

With the national debt now exceeding $38 trillion and still climbing, these proposals represent basic fiscal common sense. Yet the Senate overwhelmingly rejected them, opting instead to rubber-stamp bloated spending packages like H.R. 1968 and H.R. 5371, which perpetuated reckless, Biden-era spending levels.

Republicans did record a few modest victories—such as the passage of H.J. Res. 20, H.J. Res. 35, and H.J. Res. 87, which repealed unnecessary EPA and Department of Energy regulations. These steps toward freer markets are welcome, but they pale in comparison to the trillions in continued deficit spending.

This past year has been a glaring missed opportunity for the Republican Party. With full control of the House, Senate, and White House, they had a clear mandate—and the tools—to deliver on campaign promises to confront the national debt. The Liberty Index underscores how many chances arose to cut spending and right the fiscal ship. Instead, Congress chose to kick the can down the road yet again, entrenching the same careless deficits we’ve seen for years.

The RLC commends Senator Rand Paul for remaining an unwavering champion of limited government, free markets, and fiscal restraint. In a year when most Republicans drifted from their principles, he stood firm, fighting for America’s financial future.