Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] penned a Thursday article for Politico, in which he stated that he “cannot and will not support” the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill, which was passed by the House on Friday morning. Cruz argues it would betray the American electorate which elected a Republican majority to Congress.
“Thanks to last year’s landslide elections, Republicans now control more seats in Congress, more governorships and more state legislative seats across the country than at any time since the 1920s,” Cruz wrote, “and yet today marks a milestone and an ignominious one. Before long, Republican leaders in the Senate and House intend to join hands with a majority of Congressional Democrats to pass a bill that funds President Barack Obama’s disastrous agenda well into 2016.”
Though Cruz praised Congress for recently taking “a significant step toward repealing Obamacare and defunding Planned Parenthood,” he paints the “last-minute stocking stuffers that did make their way into” the Omnibus bill — including quadrupling of H-2B visas for low-skilled workers, an open door to fund the president’s Green Climate Fund and a complete failure to prevent the resettling of refugees from nations where ISIL or Al-Qaeda controls large swaths of territory” — as a complete surrender on the part of the Republican majority. (RELATED: That Was Quick — Ryan Pledged To Break Immigration Pledge)
“Since taking control of the Senate, Republican leadership has joined hands with a majority of Democrats to thwart their own caucus’ efforts to stop the Obama agenda 24 times.” he added. “This is why I have said that Majority Leader [crscore]Mitch McConnell[/crscore] is the most effective Democratic leader in modern times.”
Cruz notes that “in a tactic that will go mostly unnoticed, this government funding deal was once again negotiated behind closed doors, and then, like several recent ‘must-pass’ bills, will be rammed through the Senate in no time with limited debate and no floor amendments.”
“Leadership is employing this tactic to pass a one-trillion-dollar-plus spending bill at the last minute in a matter of days without giving the American people a chance to debate whether it advances their ideals or their best interests,” he explained. “It’s all or nothing. Take it or leave it.”
Cruz closed by saying he will not support the bill when it reaches the Senate because it “effectively forfeits our massive Republican victories of 2014 and cements Obama’s priorities for nearly the full remainder of his term.”
You can read Cruz’s entire article over at Politico.