WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Sen. Rand Paul issued the following statement regarding today's vote on the motion to proceed with the nominations bill, S. 679.

"Despite a loud and clear message from voters last November for reform in Washington, the U.S. Senate has been more or less a body of inaction. Our country is faced with record deficits, the very real threat of a catastrophic debt crisis, yet the fact we reached our current debt limit was ignored. Our President is unconstitutionally waging war in Libya. The Senate has gone almost 800 days without passing a budget. The unemployment rate is at 9.1 percent, and the only solution Democrats are offering is more government jobs. This bill paves the way for 200 presidential appointees to bypass the transparency and accountability our government owes its citizens. If their idea is creating jobs of political favor for Washington bureaucrats by bypassing the Senate confirmation process, instead of addressing the pressing issues facing our country, the degradation of Washington is much worse than any of us imagined.

"Holding czars and bureaucrats accountable to the citizens they serve is the government's duty. To eschew this process in the name of 'efficiency' is a lie to the taxpayers who fund their paychecks. That is why I, along with Sen. David Vitter, am introducing an amendment to put an end to Obama's unelected, unaccountable czars."

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