On Thursday, a Senate vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was delayed after the Kentucky senator objected to a part of the $740 billion bill that would limit President Donald Trump’s ability to draw down troops.

Trump wants to expedite the reduction of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq to 2,500 each as part of a pledge to get the country out of “endless wars.”

But GOP Rep. Liz Cheney and Democratic Rep. Jason Crow added a provision to the defense bill requiring the administration to submit inter-agency reports before a president could reduce U.S. force numbers below 8,000 and 4,000.

Paul believed Democrats backed the move out of “partisan anger,” saying “people don’t like President Trump. But this will bind all future presidents.” Cheney has described Paul’s opposition to the NDAA “inexcusable.”

Paul has said he would drop his objection if GOP leaders allowed a final vote on the NDAA on Monday but senators from both parties were keen to work on it this week, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The delay threatens a one-week spending bill that would keep the government open through to December 18, which required the agreement of all 100 senators.

This short-term measure was passed by the House but must be acted on by the Senate by midnight Friday to prevent a government shutdown, the AP reported. If that happened, it could delay moves to break the Congressional impasse over further stimulus checks.

It comes as Sens. Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley said Congress should not leave for the holidays without agreeing to another coronavirus relief package which included direct payments to Americans.

Sanders said in a floor speech: “It is absolutely imperative that we provide $1,200 for every working-class adult and $500 for each of their children.”

The Senate majority whip, John Thune, believed Paul was trying to get leverage to remove the provision on troop withdrawal. “I think he’s just trying to figure out ways to derail the bill,” he said, “but most of our people would like to get it done.”

“If people come together we could probably wrap a couple of things up this week and then work on the big stuff — the spending bill and COVID package — next week,” Thune said, Politico reported. Newsweek has contacted Paul’s office for comment.

The graphic below by Statista shows the number of American troops in the Middle East.