Posted on 12/13/2014 6:41:39 AM PST by SoConPubbie
Sen. Ted Cruz, the firebrand conservative freshman from Texas, has blown up the Senate leadership’s plans to have a peaceful weekend by forcing round-the-clock votes on President Obama’s nominees and the $1.1 trillion omnibus.
Cruz took to the floor late Friday to castigate congressional leaders for trying to pass the 1,600-page spending bill after only a few hours of debate and questioned the resolve of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to fight Obama’s executive order protecting five million illegal immigrants from deportation.
“Even though millions of voters rose up just one month ago to protest how President Obama and the Senate Democrats were running Washington, business as usual is continuing inside the marble halls of the United State Congress,” Cruz said in a fiery floor speech.
Because of objections from Cruz and his ally Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the Senate will begin slogging through procedural votes on nominees starting at noon Saturday and vote to end a filibuster of the omnibus spending package at 1 a.m. Sunday morning.
“It appears that we’re going to have to have a series of votes all day tomorrow starting as soon as we get here and perhaps into the morning,” Reid said shortly before temporarily adjourning the chamber Friday night.
A senior Senate Democratic aide said the Senate may hold up to 40 procedural votes on nominees this weekend due to what he called the “extreme pettiness on the part of Republicans.”
The plan sets up a final vote on the omnibus at 7 am Monday and confirmation votes on 20 nominees starting Monday.
Reid attempted to postpone work until 5 pm Monday to avoid requiring Senators having to vote throughout the day on Saturday and early morning Sunday but Lee objected, citing the “grave concerns” of the American people “with the president’s decision to take action unilaterally with regard to executive amnesty.”
“I don’t see any reason why the United States Senate should suspend its operations while the American people are waiting for us to act,” he said.
Cruz will force colleagues to vote Sunday on a point-of-order procedural objection that he is raising to the spending bill to protest Obama’s immigration order.
“This procedural tool will ensure that every Senator will be on record regarding the constitutionality of President Obama's illegal amnesty,” said Cruz’s spokeswoman Catherine Frazier.
Cruz questioned whether McConnell and Boehner are fully committed to battling Obama on immigration.
“I would note that a whole lot of citizens across the country feel a little bit like Charlie Brown with Lucy and the football, wherein fight after fight leadership in Congress says, we’ll fight next time — not this time, no, no, no. The wise thing to do is to fight in a month, fight in two months,” he said on the Senate floor.
The senior Democratic aide noted McConnell left the Capitol Friday evening apparently believing he had a deal with Reid to avoid a weekend vote-a-rama, telling reporters, “see ya Monday.”
“Senator McConnell left the Capitol apparently thinking there was a deal but his caucus rejected it after he left, while Senator Cruz took to the Senate floor to openly question Senator McConnell’s honesty and integrity,” the aide said.
Republican senators and aides said Friday they were prepared to approve the omnibus and a package extending expired tax provisions that same day. The GOP sources said the only hold up was Reid’s insistence on also confirming 20 of Obama’s nominees.
Democrats, however, said Cruz remained an obstacle, dismissing what one aide called “the crocodile tear act” on nominees.
“Republican objections to voting on the government funding bill itself are holding up an agreement to vote on the government funding bill,” the Democratic aide said.
The Texas freshman certainly did not sound like someone prepared to okay swift action on the omnibus as he railed against it Friday evening.
“This bill is not designed to help working Americans. It is designed to pay off all the promises made to lobbyists who funded campaigns over the past year,” Cruz said in his lengthy floor statement.
“Before the United States Senate is a bill that does nothing, absolutely nothing to stop President Obama’s illegal and unconstitutional amnesty,” he said.
Reid set up a vote early Sunday to end filibusters of the spending bill and executed a procedural maneuver to block colleagues from amending it.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, a conservative Republican from Alabama, wants to offer an amendment that would prohibit the use of federal funds for Obama’s order halting deportations.
Liberal star Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wants a vote on amendment that would strip language repealing a key provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law restricting derivatives trading by government-insured banks.
Neither Sessions or Warren will get a chance to amend the omnibus unless Senate leaders craft a deal that would speed consideration of the package in exchange for votes on amendments.
Preemption is the only way to keep the GOP-wing of the Democrat party from dictating the nominee.
Written form:
http://www.constitution.org/cons/crockett.htm
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoEJ-D2bgc0
My sentiments exactly. Finally somebody gets it and is willing to stand up and speak for us. And to actually fight.
My prayers and respect are with these men.
” “I would note that a whole lot of citizens across the country feel a little bit like Charlie Brown with Lucy and the football......”
I just KNEW Cruz read my posts here : )
B T T T
This backfired. They are voting on a ton of liberal nominations today and the sheep repubs are letting them.
Cruz, Lee, and Sessions speak for me.... most anyone else is just noise.
She is right on this. Never thought I’d agree with Elizabeth Warren on anything, but, I’m tired of the Pubbies catering to Wall Street and the big banks that are “too big to fail”. But, when they do fail, our tax dollars bail them out. They are economic whores.
Americans want action too, if he pissed off every Dem in DC everybody would love
him for it because we want to see struggle and political War! Same goes for Dems
angering the Repubs, but the Repubs are boring as heck and don't steam or vent. Lately.
Our system is designed for war, not go-along to get-along pansies.
Political war is what keeps Americans tuned into what's happening in
DC with our leaders. When there is no guff, nobody pays any attention. This is
what's wrong with the Repubs, they are sell-outs to PC BS, and they should be
yelling at every Dem in both houses, and in their faces! And that drunk
Boehner is as cowardly as they get.
Read the article more closely. Senator Lee (R-UT) said that NOT Harry Reid. Check it out.
Cruz, Lee, Sessions - standing with the American people. Thank you to all three for their fearless leadership.
!
High point of the week for me.
I’m confused . . . are they actually voting on this? Here’s what Ted Cruz (or, I guess, his media person) posted on Facebook almost one hour ago:
“An update on what’s happening in the Senate today:
“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.”
Amen to that. Senator Cruz is exactly the warrior this country needs before it's too late, if it's not too late already. I would crawl across broken glass to vote for this man as my President.
He was re-elected with a large margin.
America enjoys drinking the Kool-Aid.
GOD be with you Ted Cruz. ( and I believe he already is )
McConnell is probably all of that and more, at least I have thought so for years. However, a person has to look at the reason for his being where he is. It is the people in Kentucky who need to be given shame for putting this man with the influence and power he demonstrates. Pork comes from pigs.
To the Honorable Senator Cruz,
Sir, you can count on my vote when you run for President. My prayers are with you in your battle to wrest our nation from the fangs of tyranny. God bless you and keep you safe!
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