Free Republic

Ted Cruz’s first Senate speech since he dropped his presidential bid led to a testy exchange with an old nemesis, the GOP’s 2008 nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain. McCain called Cruz a “wacko bird” early in the Texan’s tenure. He recently swatted away as ridiculous the idea that he might welcome Cruz’s support in his own re-election campaign. And on Tuesday, McCain accused Cruz of looking for a pretext to distance himself from a bipartisan defense bill that McCain has worked on for months and of which he was proud, and said he’d be much more open to Cruz’s ideas...

President Barack Obama signed a bill Friday evening that would exempt some senior-level presidential appointees from Senate confirmation. Sponsored by Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer and cosponsored by Republicans and Democrats, the bill, now law, weakens the power of the legislature and strengthens the executive branch, critics have warned. The bill skated through the Senate three months after being introduced in 2011 and was passed by the Republican-controlled House 216-116 in July. The law now allows Obama and future presidents to name appointees to senior positions in every branch of the administration, from the Department of the Treasury to the Department...