During Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) lengthy talkathon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) briefly took to the floor Wednesday to point out that the speech wasn’t a filibuster and would come to an end.
“First of all, this is not a filibuster,” Reid said. “This is is an agreement that he and I made that he could talk. Let me say this. We’re going to have a vote at about 1:00 today.”
Reid and Cruz negotiated the terms of his speech beforehand, according to the majority leader’s office. It has not and likely will not stall any Senate business.
The Texan acknowledged that Reid has the right to pull him from the floor, and agreed to to wrap up his speech by noon. As Reid’s office pointed out, he can continue speaking until 1 pm when the cloture vote is scheduled on the continuing resolution to fund the government.
