Other members of the Senate fumed Saturday over objections by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) that held up a $1.1 trillion omnibus bill meant to keep the government open. The objection was fueled by the two conservatives’ desire to fight President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration.
The objections by Cruz and Lee mean that the Senate must slog through procedural votes Saturday on nominees and also vote to end a filibuster on the omnibus bill at 1 a.m. on Sunday.
It was too much for Democrats and even Republicans to bite their tongues over.
Cruz comes by reporters outside Senate chamber. McCaskill: “Quit giving him so much attention. That’s exactly what’s causing the problem”
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 13, 2014
Sen. McCaskill admonishes press scrum trying to speak w/ @SenTedCruz. This is the problem! This is why this is happening!
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) December 13, 2014
Hatch on Cruz/Lee: I don’t see any end game that can be one by irritating people.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 13, 2014
Sen. Collins “not happy” with Cruz/Lee strategy, calls it “totally counterproductive”
— Arlette Saenz (@ArletteSaenz) December 13, 2014
Cruz on Saturday wrote on his Facebook that all he and Lee have “done was simply to request to hold a vote on a measure to stop President Obama’s amnesty.” Read the whole Facebook post by Cruz below:
While the Senate considers the CRomnibus spending bill, all we’ve done was simply request to hold a vote on a measure to stop President Obama’s amnesty. Instead, Majority Leader Harry Reid is holding a series of votes today for the sheer purpose of blocking that vote on Obama’s amnesty.
Harry Reid’s last act as Majority Leader is to, once again, act as an enabler for President Obama, by blocking this vote on the President’s amnesty. He is going to an embarrassing length to tie up the floor to obstruct debate and a vote on this issue because he knows amnesty is unpopular with the American people, and he doesn’t want the Democrats on the record as supporting it.
No one wants a government shutdown. We are only seeking a vote. As soon as the Majority Leader allows a vote on a measure to stop President Obama’s amnesty, we can and should move forward on this bill to fund the government. If he does not, then we will continue to insist upon regular order and use every tool at our disposal to ensure there is a vote.
