Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is dismayed that “every single Democrat senator goes in line and docilely agrees” with the Obama administration, claiming the president’s abuse of authority and ever-expanding powers should be challenged by lawmakers in both parties.
Cruz spoke with Fox News’ Shannon Bream on Sunday about President Barack Obama’s increasing authority at the expense of Congress, particularly after Senate Republicans were blocked from filibustering judicial nominees through the “nuclear option.” Bream asked the senator if “stacking courts” is a presidential right and whether Republicans would be objecting if one of their own was in the White House.
“Every one of those points is objectively false,” Cruz retorted. “For one thing, these two issues, the nuclear option and the president’s lawlessness, are very interrelated. The reason that [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid broke his word — repeatedly he said he wouldn’t exercise the nuclear option and then he just broke his word, just like President Obama did when he said if you like your plan you can keep it — the reason he did that is because the Democrats are very concerned about courts holding this administration accountable for their lawlessness… This is all about wanting to pack the D.C. Circuit with judges that President Obama and the Democrats think will rubber stamp the president’s lawlessness.”
Cruz said it was “striking” that so few liberal Democrats have pushed back against executive overreach — something that angered many leftists during the Bush years.
“There have been Republican presidents, unfortunately, who’ve overreached, who’ve exceeded their executive authority,” he said. “And when they’ve done that, there have been Republicans who stand up and call the Republican president to account, saying the Constitution matters and no president, no man is above the law.”
“One of the things that I found most disappointing: Where are the Democrats? Where are the liberals?” he continued. “Where are the journalists and the media calling President Obama to account for disregarding the law? Right now as we look at these fights, as we look at the president picking and choosing, saying, ‘I’m not going to follow this law; I’m not going to follow that law; I’m not going to follow this other law.’ There are virtually no Democrats who will even speak up a word of criticism… You know, in prior years there would be Democrats speaking up to protect the Senate. It is amazing to me that every single Democratic senator just — just goes in line and docilely agrees with the Executive usurping the power of the Senate.”
The Texan senator noted that the framers of the Constitution intended the three branches to “resist” each other in order to protect the liberty of the people. “The Senate is failing in its job,” Cruz claimed, “when it doesn’t resist against the president usurping power. All of us should be concerned — listen, if this was a Republican president, I promise you I would be every bit as vocal against a Republican president usurping power and violating the Constitution. And we really need to see some Democrats and some liberals standing up against an imperial president.”
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