Posted on 04/23/2015 1:21:56 PM PDT by SoConPubbie
Edited on 04/23/2015 2:23:02 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was already on a plane and flying back to Texas Thursday afternoon when the Senate held its final confirmation vote for Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch, a Cruz campaign aide told TheBlaze.
As a result, Cruz was the only senator not to vote on Lynch’s confirmation earlier in the day. The Senate approved Lynch, a candidate that Cruz has argued against for months now.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) missed the final vote on the confirmation of Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch, and was on a plane back to Texas. Cruz was the only senator to miss the vote.
The Cruz aide declined to say why the senator was returning to his home state. However, a reporter from Real Clear Politics tweeted a picture of a flyer indicating that Cruz, a GOP presidential contender, had a campaign fundraiser to attend to Thursday night in Texas.
Here's why Cruz had to fly back to Texas before the final Lynch vote… pic.twitter.com/BCUt2cbkED
— Rebecca Berg (@rebeccagberg) April 23, 2015
While Cruz missed the final vote, aides to Cruz stressed that Cruz was in the Senate for the key vote on whether to end debate on Lynch’s nomination. The so-called “cloture vote” in the Senate is in fact the critical vote, since an agreement to end debate needs 60 votes, and once that happens, it’s usually a cinch to find the 51 votes needed to confirm a nominee or pass a bill.
Cruz and most other Republicans voted against ending debate, but 20 Republicans voted with Democrats and allowed Lynch to get to a final vote.
Cruz spokeswoman Amanda Carpenter said the cloture vote was the “vote that mattered,” and laid out her argument in a series of tweets soon after the vote:
If the Senate could get 60 votes for cloture, they could get 51 for final confirmation. Cloture is the only vote that mattered.
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) April 23, 2015
Lynch received 66 votes on the vote that mattered. http://t.co/W6Ne8mQVv8 If she can get to 66 she can get to 51
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) April 23, 2015
It drives me crazy when Senators can’t even work the little days that they actually work. He should be at work when Congress is in session. Did he put in a leave day? Is he being paid for his trip to Texas while everyone is working. Good Lord they have it good. No wonder they have a 9 percent approval rating.
McCain actually went back to do his job when he was running. Although he did lose, he at least cared about the current job he was doing at the time. He never missed a vote.
A protest non-vote against the corrupt political establishment.
56-44 would have made a difference?
Is this another case of boner scheduling votes to undermine someone?
Lemme guess, you are hoping for another milqtoast RINO candidate that will lose because true Conservatives will either stay home or vote 3rd party?
I see I am parroting the latest American Tax Payer who pays his paycheck.
I am very proud.
I’d rather have him miss that vote than flip flop on issues...
As a citizen of Texas, Senator Cruz is my employee, not yours. He works at my pleasure, not yours. We’re very happy with his job performance, especially as it pertains to the current nomination and his attempts to stop it.
True he did, and the MSM attacked him ruthlessly for doing that.
So anything and everything is going to be attacked. Bring it on.
McCain missed 971 of 9,526 roll call votes
He never missed a vote.
Oops, you missed your target there, Naps. Maybe you should check your facts, again.
Thank you SoConPubbie. I am suffering a case of polites this afternoon. You said it all for us.
Then vote for Lindsey Graham
Well, its my job as a citizen to vote as well. I rarely do so. Particularly when the end result isn’t in question.
He did the right thing. He was there for the real vote and skipped the show vote. The end result wasnkt in question.
” Cruz slammed McConnell and Senate leaders for allowing for a vote.
The Republican majority, if it so chose, could defeat this nomination, he said. I would note there are a few voters back home that are asking what exactly is the difference between a Democratic and Republican majority.
The Texas senator added that he has asked leadership to block all of Obamas executive and judicial nominees unless and until the president rescinds his lawless amnesty.
WASHINGTON (AP) Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate floor against confirming Loretta Lynch, calling her unsuitable to be attorney general.
Then he was the lone senator to skip the confirmation vote.
We have a nominee who has told the United States Senate she is unwilling to impose any limits whatsoever on the authority of the President of the United States, Cruz said. In the next 20 months, we are sadly going to see more and more lawlessness, more recklessness, more abuse of power, more executive lawlessness.
Cruz said that based on Lynchs answers at her confirmation hearing, in which she supported President Barack Obamas executive actions on immigration, in my opinion render her unsuitable for confirmation as attorney general of the United States.
He concluded his remarks at 11:23 a.m. EDT and cast a procedural vote against moving ahead on her nomination. When the roll was called at 1:37 p.m. for the final vote, Cruz was absent.”
Thanks.. I had already read all about that. I had a rather uneasy feeling she’d be confirmed but was really hoping she wouldn’t.
Boehner is Speaker of the House; this was a Senate vote (McConnell is the Majority Leader in the Senate).
If only for the visuals, Cruz should have taken a later plane; not voting to attend a fundraiser is an excuse no one here would accept from someone they don’t like.
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