used the words fight figuratively?" once trump was impeached in january 2021, paul introduced a motion to the senate declaring the impeachment to be unconstitutional. five republicans joined all 50 democrats to defeat the motion 55 to 45. with 45 republican senators supporting him, paul stated the impeachment was 'dead on arrival'. paul formally voted against the charges on february 13, 2021. in january 2022, a video resurfaced of paul advising medical students at the university of louisville in 2013, during which he said "misinformation works, so try to trick your opponents". in may 2022, paul blocked a bipartisan bill that would provide $40 billion in aid for ukraine during the russian invasion, citing the need to create a special inspector general to oversee how the aid is spent. 118th congress (2023–present) in march 2023, paul gained particular media attention after he crossed party lines and blocked fellow republican senator josh hawley's "no tiktok on united states devices act", which would ban the app tiktok in the united states. in a statement afterwards, paul said he believes a ban would be a violation of first amendment rights, adding that it would not necessarily protect the users' information because u.s.-based tech companies have failed to secure data before. committee assignments committee on foreign relations subcommittee on near east, south asia, central asia and counterterrorism subcommittee on europe and regional security cooperation subcommittee on multilateral international development, multilateral institutions, and international economic, energy and environmental policy subcommittee on state department and usaid management, international operations and bilateral international development committee on health, education, labor, and pensions subcommittee on children and families (chairman) subcommittee on employment and workplace safety committee on homeland security and governmental affairs permanent subcommittee on investigations subcommittee on emergency management, intergovernmental relations, and the district of columbia (chairman) committee on small business and entrepreneurship (ranking member) on february 3, 2021, paul was named a ranking member of the small business and entrepreneurship committee. caucuses senate republican conference 2016 presidential campaign background paul speaking at the 2013 conservative political action conference (cpac) in national harbor, maryland, on march 14, 2013. paul speaking at a campaign rally in des moines, iowa, october 2015. paul was considered a potential candidate for the republican nomination for the presidency of the united states since at least january 2013. he delivered the tea party response to president barack obama's state of the union address on february 13, 2013, while marco rubio gave the official republican response. this prompted some pundits to call that date the start of the 2016 republican primaries. that year, he spoke at the conservative political action conference in washington d.c., where he won the 2016 presidential straw poll. paul went on to win the straw poll for the next two years as well, leading to some considering paul to be a front runner for the nomination, although cpac attendees are typically considered younger and more libertarian-minded than average republican voters. in a speech at the gop freedom summit in april 2014, paul insisted that the gop has to broaden its appeal in order to grow as a party. to do so, he said it cannot be the party of "fat cats, rich people and wall street" and that the conservative movement has never been about rich people or privilege, "we are the middle class", he said. paul also said that conservatives must present a message of justice and concern for the unemployed and be against government surveillance to attract new people to the movement, including the young, hispanics, and black voters. during the 2014 election, paul launched a social media campaign titled "hillary's losers" which was meant to highlight many of the democratic candidates that lost their bids for the u.s. senate despite endorsements from hillary clinton. clinton was also a candidate for president and eventually won the democratic party's nomination, going on to lose to donald trump in the general election. paul began to assemble his campaign team, setting up campaign offices and hiring his campaign manager in the beginning of 2015, fueling speculation that he was preparing to enter the presidential race. paul officially announced his presidential candidacy on april 7, 2015. within a day of his announcement, paul raised $1 million. senate re-election in april 2011, paul filed to run for re-election to his senate seat in 2016. had he become the republican presidential (or vice-presidential) nominee, state law would prohibit him from simultaneously running for re-election. in march 2014, the republican-controlled kentucky senate passed a bill that would allow paul to run for both offices, but the democratic-controlled kentucky house of representatives declined to take it up. paul spent his own campaign money in the 2014 legislative elections, helping republican candidates for the state house in the hopes of flipping the chamber, thus allowing the legislature to pass the bill (democratic governor steve beshear's veto can be overridden with a simple majority). however, the democrats retained their 54–46 majority in the state house. paul has since given his support to the idea that the kentucky republican party could decide to hold a caucus rather than a primary, potentially giving paul more time to decide whether he should run for u.s. senator or continue a potential bid for president. exit from presidential campaign paul announced the suspension of his presidential campaign on february 3, 2016, shortly after the iowa caucus, where he finished in fifth place. political positions this article is part of a series onconservatismin the united states schools compassionate fiscal 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