Afternoon Roundup: GOP on Cruz Control
Time to buckle up – House Republicans are back on Cruz Control. The Republican Senator who called last year’s government shutdown “absolutely” worth it is at it again, rallying the most conservative Members of the House towards another GOP-led government shutdown. Here’s a look at how Speaker Cruz’s efforts are playing out in the news:
From The Wall Street Journal:
“Sen. Ted Cruz (R. Texas) Wednesday joined forces with House conservatives to fight GOP leaders’ proposal to avoid a government shutdownwhile opposing President Barack Obama’s immigration initiative.”
“A group of House conservatives, at a press briefing Tuesday, objected to the leadership measure because they wanted more forceful action against the Obama administration policy and because they wanted a shorter spending bill to allow the new GOP Congress to rewrite budget priorities. That emerging opposition has raised questions about whether Mr. Boehner would have enough votes to pass the government spending bill.”
“Mr. Cruz in the past has built alliances with House conservatives on issues, such as last year’s funding fights that ended in a shutdown, that have irked Mr. Boehner — a tension that has led House Democrats to dub the senator ‘Speaker Cruz’ for his influence among House conservatives.”
From National Journal:
“Sen. Ted Cruz is playing de facto House conservatives leader once again.”
“Taking the podium Wednesday at an outdoor presser beside the House's most vocal border security hawks, Reps. Steve King and Michele Bachmann, Cruz slid comfortably back into a familiar place: being a thorn in the side of elected House leaders.”
“House appropriators have futilely tried to make the case that Obama's action cannot even be defunded by Congress. And Boehner floated a plan to the conference Tuesday that would fund most of the government through the fiscal year but enable House Republicans to keep the Homeland Security Department on a tighter leash by keeping money flowing to it only for a few months.”
“Still, rank-and-file members on the right don't seem to be completely listening, and time is running out for the House leadership team to cobble together a coalition to pass the funding bill by late next week.”
“The Texas senator is seen by many as the agitator who encouraged House Republicans to defund Obamacare through the funding process in October 2013, which led to a government shutdown.”
From Politico:
“On Wednesday morning, the Texas GOP senator joined conservative colleagues in the House and Senate who began railing on Tuesday against House Speaker John Boehner’s plans to pass an omnibus spending through September, revisit Homeland Security funding early next year and pass a proposal disapproving of Obama’s immigration policy — which the Democrat-controlled Senate will not take up.”
“In a statement, the potential presidential contender again urged the Senate to block consideration of Obama’s nominees to positions not related to national security — and Cruz demanded both chambers to take a harder line against Obama than proposed by GOP leaders.”
“It remains unclear just how hard a line Cruz will take on the spending bill and immigration this month after playing a central role during last year’s fight over defunding Obamacare, which resulted in a lengthy government shutdown.”
It is time for House Republican leaders to stop pandering to the far-right wing of their party and start working with Democrats to do what the American people expect of their Representatives in Congress: keep their government open.