Free Republic

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Thursday that his absence during last week’s confirmation of Attorney General Loretta Lynch was the same as voting against her. “There was no significance to the final vote, and I had a scheduling conflict,” Cruz said, according to media reports. “Under the Senate rules, absence is the equivalent of a no vote,” the 2016 GOP presidential candidate added. “It is identical procedurally.” Senators confirmed Lynch as the nation’s new attorney general on April 23 in a 56-43 vote. Cruz, a notable opponent of her nomination, said Thursday he abstained because a majority of Republicans had...

The subtweet: It’s how everyone from your neighbors’ kid to Justin Bieber chucks insults and criticism online without directly naming their target.Add Sen. Jon Cornyn (R-Texas) to the list of subtweeters.On Saturday morning, the Hill noted that Cornyn seemed to be lashing out at fellow Texas Republican — and presidential candidate — Sen. Ted Cruz with the tweet below. FYI: Cloture ends debate only. It does not confirm a nominee. Otherwise a subsequent vote on whether to confirm a nominee is meaningless.— JohnCornyn (@JohnCornyn) April 25, 2015 “FYI: Cloture ends debate only,” Cornyn wrote. “It does not confirm a nominee....

I’m hearing from Senate sources that Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is writing an alternative to the border crisis bill proposed by Senator John Cornyn (R., Texas) and Representative Henry Cuellar (D., Texas). A “central feature” of Cruz’s bill will be a reversal of President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, according to one Senate source.Republicans in both chambers agree that the surge of children from Central America was caused by Obama’s 2012 announcement of DACA, a policy under which the federal government does not deport people who would have qualified for the DREAM Act, a bill that never...