Question: Who is the most hated member of the U.S. Senate? Based on what happened last night, it’s very safe to say that distinction belongs to Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Monday night, Cruz’s Senate colleagues, including every GOP Senator, ignored his calls for a voice vote on a motion that would have directly attacked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for refusing to shut down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood. Cruz was unable to muster a “sufficient second,” meaning the seconding of a motion made by a member of the Senate. Such a seconding is almost always granted.
Moments later, in a second rebuke, GOP Senators loudly shouted “no” when Cruz sought a voice vote on his measure. The only affirmative assent Cruz was able to garner came from fellow Tea Party darling Mike Lee of Utah.
Cruz called the actions by his fellow Republicans an “unprecedented procedural trick,” and added:
“What does denying a second mean? Denying a recorded vote. Why is that important? When you are breaking the commitment you’ve made to the men and women who elected you, the most painful thing in the world is accountability.”
The Texas Senator said he will try once again today to defund Planned Parenthood during a vote on a spending measure to keep the government running through December. And he had this somewhat cryptic message for his colleagues :
“One of the ways you avoid accountability is you somehow are somewhere else doing something really, really important instead of actually showing up to the battle.”
Clearly, Ted Cruz is no longer the star of the Senate that he thought he was. Perhaps he should go back to his Presidential campaign–which is also doomed–and let the real business of government take place without him trying to gum up the works.
Featured Image Via Gage Skidmore for Flickr available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.
