Surprise, surprise—Sen. Ted Cruz still isn't making any friends in the Senate.
From Politico:
Sen. Kelly Ayotte returned home to New Hampshire on Friday, planning to see “The Nutcracker” with her daughter this weekend. But there was an unexpected conflict: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Cruz, along with Utah Sen. Mike Lee, took to the floor Friday night to demand Republicans stop President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration and scuttled a bipartisan agreement to push back votes until Monday, effectively forcing the Senate to return for a rare weekend session and cast a marathon series of procedural votes.
Of course, the move might have curried favor among fellow Republicans, if there had been a lick of logic involved.
Senior Republicans say there’s a problem with Cruz’s strategy: The GOP lacks the votes to stop Obama on immigration now.
In fact, the only senators
who did welcome Cruz's grandstanding were Majority Leader Harry Reid and his fellow Democrats.
By dragging out the road to a Senate vote on funding the government, Sen. Ted Cruz inadvertently gave Democrats the time to get a few other things done.
Including the potential confirmations of at least five Obama nominees, and maybe many more. Happy holidays, Democrats! Meanwhile, the Republican caucus isn't feeling any of Cruz's holiday cheer.
The fiasco has turned many of Cruz’s colleagues openly against him, a dynamic that might bolster his cred with the tea party wing of the party if he makes a run for the GOP’s presidential nomination in 2016, but could also leave him vulnerable to attacks that he’s more troublemaker than leader — able to shut down the government or stall votes but unable to advance a proactive agenda.