Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is about as close to a Tea Party senator as you can get. The man even co-authored a book called The Tea Party Goes to Washington, in which he sang the praises of the small government political movement known for flying “Don’t Tread on Me” flags at its rallies.

Given all that, try not to drown in the sheer irony of the news that Paul has proposed, well, treading all over D.C. like only a big government politician could. According to the Post, Paul has offered a number of amendments to a D.C. budget autonomy bill set to be marked up tomorrow, including one that would allow concealed weapons, one that would formalize the prohibition on the use of local funds for abortions and a third that would prohibit discrimination for jobs based on membership in a union:

One Paul amendment would require the District to allow residents to obtain concealed weapon permits for handguns, and would require the city to honor permits issued to residents of other states. Another amendment would make the District “establish an office for the purpose of facilitating the purchase and registration of firearms by DC residents,” in response to reports that there is only one licensed gun dealer in the city.

Paul has also submitted an amendment to codify the city-funded abortion ban. The prohibition — a continuing source of frustration for local leaders that is strongly supported by anti-abortion groups — has been extended via appropriations bills every year that Republicans have controlled one or both chambers of Congress since the mid-1990s.

Paul proposed another amendment saying “membership in a labor organization may not be applied as a precondition for employment” in the District, and protecting employees “from discrimination on the basis of their membership status” in a union.

Just ponder that one for a little bit—Rand Paul, of all people, is using a bill that would allow D.C. to spend money it raises from its own population so he can impose his causes on a city that lacks voting representation.

If that’s not rich enough for you, consider this—Paul spoke at Boston’s Faneuil Hall in 2007 on the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, where he advocated small government principles. As anyone who took elementary U.S. history knows, the main grievance expressed by the real Tea Partiers was—you guessed it!—taxation without representation. At least Paul’s fellow small government-sympathizer in the House, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), has recognized the ideological parallels between the Tea Party and D.C.’s demand for voting rights and autonomy and refused to play mayor for the city.

This certainly isn’t the first time that a Republican senator has mucked up hopes for D.C. voting rights-related legislation. Back in 2009 it was Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) who weighed down legislation that would give D.C. a voting seat in the House with an amendment gutting the city’s gun laws.