Cornyn clashes with Ken Paxton over support for foreign aid bill

Texas Sen. John Cornyn is facing backlash from a Republican official at home after voting in favor of a $95 billion foreign aid package early Tuesday morning. But he’s not taking it quietly.

“Unbelievable that @JohnCornyn would stay up all night to defend other countries borders, but not America,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton posted on X Tuesday morning.

Hours later, Cornyn, a Republican foreign policy hawk and former minority whip, let loose on Paxton. The attorney general recently escaped an impeachment trial over allegations of bribery and corruption and has been dogged by securities fraud charges since 2015.

“Ken, your criminal defense lawyers are calling to suggest you spend less time pushing Russian propaganda and more time defending longstanding felony charges against you in Houston, as well as ongoing federal grand jury proceedings in San Antonio that will probably result in further criminal charges,” Cornyn wrote.

Cornyn was one of 22 Senate Republicans who voted to advance the aid package, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. It now heads to an uncertain fate in the House, against the desires of former President Donald Trump, who has railed against the idea of sending more aid to Ukraine and whose influence has grown among Republican members of Congress as he marches toward another presidential nomination.

Paxton was seemingly undeterred by Cornyn’s criticism. Shortly after the senator slammed him on social media, Paxton posted another diatribe, dubbing Cornyn an “America Last RINO.”

“Unsurprisingly, America Last RINO @JohnCornyn has once again joined hands with the Biden administration to fund and prioritize foreign wars over the national security crisis at the southern border,” Paxton said.