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UPDATE 7:54 p.m.: During an interview with The Washington Post later Thursday, Corker disputed suggestions that he appeared angry during his exchange with Cruz and Lee. "I candidly enjoyed it very much," he said. "I think it's very commonplace, especially on an important bill like this that people care about, for people to be discussing tactics and the best way to end up with a good policy outcome, which obviously all Republicans want to see happen."

Republican tensions grew Thursday as Tea Party-aligned senators rejected a bid to speed up the vote on a bill to fund the government while defunding ObamaCare, with one senior lawmaker accusing his colleagues of posturing -- as the chances of a government shutdown increased. The flurry of activity occurred late Thursday afternoon on the Senate floor. With lawmakers facing a Sept. 30 deadline to pass a spending bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to get approval to hold key votes on Thursday, in order to give the House more time to consider the legislation. But Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah,...

The GOP’s anger at Sen. Ted Cruz — expressed mostly in private meetings this week — burst onto the usually collegial Senate floor on Thursday, with Sen. Bob Corker excoriating his Texas Republican colleague for blocking a quick vote to avert a government shutdown next week. In a highly unusual Republican v. Republican exchange, Corker accused Cruz of delaying a Thursday vote simply to create a “show” to cater to his conservative activist supporters at the expense of making good policy. -snip- Cruz shot back. “Why is Majority Leader Harry Reid going to vote the same way you’re proposing to...

WASHINGTON — Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker called out fellow Republicans Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah Thursday, accusing them of delaying a vote on the bill to fund the government and prevent a government shutdown to suit their own desires for publicity. Cruz, earlier this week, held the floor for over 21 hours, speaking in defense of defunding Obamacare with that government funding bill. He asked other Republican senators to join him in voting against moving forward on a bill passed by the House, which would fund the government while defunding Obamacare

It’s not just House members who are taking shots at Ted Cruz on Twitter: One of his Senate colleagues is turning on him as well. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) on Thursday took a whack at Cruz over social media for leading the charge to push Republicans to back only spending bills that defund Obamacare, which many in his own party have predicted will result in a government shutdown blamed on Republicans. “I didn’t go to Harvard or Princeton, but I can count — the defunding box canyon is a tactic that will fail and weaken our position,” Corker said, a...