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The launch of Tomahawk missiles by President Trump has displaced the gravitational center of twitter purists, litmus nuts, conspiracy loons and the even creepier goons that orbit the remnants of the Ted Cruz #NeverTrump camp. Their latest anti-Trumpism du jour targets Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and spouse of Ivanka Trump. Every loon campaign needs a hashtag, and their chosen identifying moonbattery is scribed under #FireKushner. The concern, as it is openly expressed by those pushing the hashtag, is that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner will sneak into President Trump’s bedroom and place a pod under his bed which will...

(CNN) — Texas Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke knows most people are already writing off his long-shot bid to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, but he argues his race could be the key to flipping the Senate in 2018. “I’d like nothing more for the establishment to count us out,” O’Rourke told CNN in a phone interview from El Paso. The 44-year-old third-term House Democrat isn’t hiring pollsters or campaign consultants and is sticking with a pledge he made during his first run for the House to refuse any corporate money or donations from political action committees. He pointed to his...

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina on Monday called for a special prosecutor and an independent commission to handle the investigation into Russia's involvement in the 2016 elections.

For those keeping score at home, here’s a recap of where the Washington healthcare debacle currently stands: Obama and the Democrats inflict a massively overcomplicated system of healthcare regulations that raised insurance premiums on Americans, decreased insurance options, dictated doctors and coverage, and largely just sucked.Republicans saddled up the Obamacare nightmare and rode it to the electoral bank in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016, promising that once they had full control, they would repeal the beast.When given full control, the Republicans authored an absurd Obamacare-lite compromise bill that didn’t repeal the beast, but attempted to manicure it. It failed...

Exactly two weeks ago, this author predicted the defeat of the American Health Care Act — and explained that it was a step towards the final, actual deal that will repeal and replace Obamacare. President Donald Trump faces three irreconcilable factions: the GOP establishment, conservatives, and Democrats. He must bring them together — to “deliver the goods,” a key rule in The Art of the Deal. But first he must show them “the downside” — and convince them they will fail on their own. The most difficult faction to deal with is the Republican establishment — not because they are...

Does it make health care more affordable? Does it give consumers more choices? Does it provide Americans more control over their families’ health care?

Rand Paul is trying to be relevant. Ted Cruz thinks he is going to run for President in four years by undermining Trump and purposely undermining the economic rally. Both of these were candidates who lost to Trump in the Republican primaries. On the other side, we have the total enemies of the Republican base, John McCain who belongs in a strait jacket and is so despised by the Republican base he didn’t even have a chance of even entering the primaries much less win them, and an equally pathetic Never Trumper Lindsey Graham who also like Paul and Cruz...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) recounted Monday some of the policies of previous presidents that could have been wielded against Democratic Supreme Court nominees to show the hypocrisy of the questions being asked of President Donald Trump’s nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch. He did so while on the Senate Judiciary Committee for the confirmation hearing of the nominee. “Some Democrats slandered Judge Gorsuch,” Cruz explained, “as being ‘against the little guy’ because he has dared to rule based on the law, the law that Congress has passed, and not on the specific identity of the specific litigants appearing before him. This is...

President Donald Trump signed legislation Tuesday adding human exploration of Mars to NASA’s mission. Could sending Congress into space be next? Flanked at an Oval Office bill-signing ceremony by astronauts and lawmakers, Trump observed that being an astronaut is a “pretty tough job.” He said he wasn’t sure he’d want it and, among lawmakers he put the question to, Sen. Ted Cruz said he wouldn’t want to be a space traveler, either. But Cruz, R-Texas, offered up a tantalizing suggestion. “You could send Congress to space,” he said to laughter, including from the president. […] “What a great idea that...

Sen. Ted Cruz wasted no time mincing words on what he thinks about the three phases of the American Health Care Act Sunday morning on Face the Nation. “That ain’t gonna happen,” Cruz told host John Dickerson when asked about the 3-phase plan President Trump and House Republicans have been pushing since the roll out their non-repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Tuesday sent President Donald Trump a measure to expand the number of applicants for jobless benefits who can be drug-tested. The White House has said Trump will sign the measure into law as a cancellation of "unnecessary regulations." Lawmakers in the GOP-controlled Congress have complained that under President Barack Obama, the government placed too many limits on states for deciding which unemployment applicants can be drug-tested. The Labor Department's regulation meant that states could only test applicants for unemployment benefits who do jobs that require drug testing. The resolution passed by the House and...

Both Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) visited the United States' southern border in the beginning of 2017, but they met with two different groups of people. Pelosi appeared over the weekend at a respite center in the Rio Grande Valley that aids immigrants released from Border Patrol and reportedly accommodated undocumented immigrants in the past. Cruz visited the border in February and said he likes to meet with Border Patrol in the area whenever he comes. "Every time I come to the border, I try to listen and ask questions to border...

However, Cruz’s strategy – which would leverage the power Vice President Mike Pence has as president of the Senate – “might blow up the Senate too,” Bloomberg Politics notes. One of the main complaints Republican lawmakers have with the new health care reform bill is that it employs many of the same provisions as its predecessor, with some even labelling it “Obamacare Lite.” The Hill explains exactly why the scope of this bill is so limited: House Republicans left several reforms popular with conservatives out of their health care bill because the parliamentarian is likely to rule them outside the...

Who would have thought that Sen Ted Cruz, R-Texas, would find the Gordian knot that will change the #Obamacare impasse from a grinding campaign to try to pass a repeal and replace bill that no one is entirely satisfied with? The senator seems to have found a way to avoid a filibuster entirely in the effort to reform health care reform and pass a new, free-market law. Thus far the problem has been what and what not can be included in a reconciliation bill that only needs 51 votes to pass the Senate. The bill being presented does not contain...

Democrats tend to love sneaky lawyer tricks because their side is so good at them. The passage of Obamacare under the Senate rules governing “reconciliation” is the most prominent example of creatively applying the rules to get what they want. But it turns out that there are some really smart and creative legal minds on the GOP side, and now that the GOP runs the Senate, the sauce for the Democrat goose also flavors the Republican gander, if that isn’t too disagreeable an abuse of metaphorical license. Ted Cruz is one such legal mind; in the words of legendary Harvard...

Sen. Ted Cruz’s unyielding opposition to the Affordable Care Act and his willingness to publicly take the fight to fellow Republicans helped cause a brief government shutdown four years ago. But now, with a Republican in the White House and repeal legislation working its way through Congress, the Texas Republican is keeping a low profile, putting his head down and working back rooms to influence the legislation. Cruz has expressed serious concerns about the bill, the American Health Care Act, released by House Republicans this week and approved by two committees Thursday. His fellow Senate conservatives Rand Paul and Mike...

"Is Obamacare Republicans’ Waterloo?" That was the question a reporter posed a couple weeks ago. It’s the narrative increasingly being pushed by the media, and starting to become conventional wisdom in Washington. My response? What the press doesn’t understand is that Obamacare, in practice, has proven to be a disaster, and it’s hurting millions of people. We’ve had three elections that focused on Obamacare repeal, 2010, 2014 and 2016. All three were massive victories for Republicans. If that’s Waterloo, we could use a few more of them. So, how do we go forward? Here are two overarching principles, three concrete...

DALLAS -- Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Donald Trump Jr. will headline the Reagan Day Dinner hosted by the Dallas County Republican's Party Saturday evening. The event will take place at the Omni Hotel in downtown Dallas and includes a meet and greet with Republican leaders and dinner. Attendees have to purchase tickets starting at $150 and going up to $25,000. This is the second meeting between the Trump family and Ted Cruz in recent weeks. Senator Cruz and his wife recently had dinner with President Trump, tweeting a photo of the Cruz family's children with the President afterwards.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), emerging as a key player in negotiations to repeal and replace ObamaCare, says Vice President Pence should exert his power over the Senate to significantly expand the scope of the House healthcare reform bill. Cruz, who had dinner with President Trump on Wednesday evening, says that Pence, who by virtue of his office also serves as president of the Senate, should be prepared to overrule the chamber's parliamentarian to bulk up the controversial measure. House Republicans left several reforms popular with conservatives out of their healthcare bill because the parliamentarian is likely to rule them outside...

Three GOP senators are adding an extra hurdle to the looming fight over nixing the Affordable Care Act, arguing they want a "full repeal" of ObamaCare. Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Mike Lee (Utah) each pointed to the Senate's 2015 repeal bill as the "bare minimum" for the 2017 repeal legislation. "2 yrs ago, the GOP Congress voted to repeal Obamacare. That 2015 repeal language should be the floor, the bare minimum," they each tweeted, along with the hashtag "FullRepeal." The tweets come after the conservative House Freedom Caucus voted to oppose an ObamaCare repeal bill if...