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.
And screw the Cromnibus! Yes, may Hillary's nemesis do this and pooch the whole deal such that congress does a straight CR to February with no additional funds to help Obamacare and Illegal Alien vote buying.
You’re very welcome - but actually thank RedMDer- I got the direct numbers off one of the posts by RedMDer on a thread I was reading last night (and linked up thread here) :))
They still think we are stupid!
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Can a guy named Gruber be wrong?
Of course, it wasn't petty when Reid buried and refused to consider hundreds of bills from the Republican House since 2010.
McConnell and Boehner keep forgetting they are supposed to be the opposition to Obama and the Democrats.
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They intentionally come down on the side of Big Government and the Ruling Class. There is no forgetfulness or stupidity about it. It’s all treachery.
““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.”
THIS is why I like Cruz.
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Cruz is a genuine constitutional lawyer with a great deal of success arguing cases in the Supreme Court, unlike the poser in the White House.
Their role within the Uniparty was to pretend to be part of the opposition.
They got the message It’s why they’re ding this in the lame duck
Apparently some conservatives aren’t getting the message. GOPe is pro amnesty and tegu think nothing of either conservatives nor the kids they’re taking trillions of dollars from
Amen. Thank you!
Since first hearing anything of Ted Cruz, has he wavered or done anything to make you think he is not real and steadfast in conservative patriotism?
Cruz is a maverick because he sides with America.
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.
I am not 100% sure but she may be right on this.
It sent a message, they just didn't get it. Like Gruber, they think we are stupid and if they ignore us, we will vote for them anyway.
No.
But I am fearful of having complete hope in any human being. However, I have complete hope in Jesus Christ and pray that He is working through Senators Cruz and Lee to get our country on track.
“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”
This is a message that will ring in the peoples ears.
I called and thanked them both!!! When noon strikes I’ll call Rubio and Nelson to implore them to vote against this stupid bill. Anything else I should cuss them out about that we’re facing today? :)
Cruz has been tried and tested, no need to fill the field with wannabe's, we need to get behind one candidate now, no repeat of 2012 candidates beating each other up for a year wasting multi millions of dollars and winding up with another loser like Romney.
Democrats oppose the bill but it’s all gonna be Ted Cruz’s fault. Got it.
(PS this is not an endorsement of the bill, just a commentary on the media perspective)
Go Cruz!
OMG.... Ted Cruz (My Senator) just gets more awesome with each passing day. I hope he makes life as much hell for Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, John “Cornhole” Cornyn and Lindsey Graham, as he does for Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. No; change that. I hope he makes hell more so for The Pubbies than the Dems; they’re the ones with the power come January 2015.
GIVE ‘EM HELL TED!!!
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