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Cruz, Lee Lead GOP Senate Attack on Spending Bill
Saturday, December 13, 2014 08:02 AM
By: By ANDREW TAYLOR
First it was objections by House Democrats that stood in the way of passage of a $1.1 trillion catchall spending bill. Now it’s the Senate Republicans’ turn, specifically Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah.
The two lawmakers demanded a vote Friday night on a proposal to cut funds from the bill that could be used to implement President Barack Obama’s new immigration policy, ending any chance the measure could clear the Senate and be sent to the White House with a minimum of fuss.
Officials in both parties said the bill remains on track for clearance by early next week. Even so, the move led Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to abandon plans to adjourn the Senate for the weekend, and raised the possibility of a test vote on the spending bill shortly after midnight on Saturday.
Senate Republican leaders have pledged to challenge Obama’s immigration policy early in the new year, after the GOP takes control of the Senate. But Cruz suggested they shouldn’t be entirely trusted to keep their pledge.
“We will learn soon enough if those statements are genuine and sincere,” he said, in a clear reference to Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker John Boehner.
Ironically, Cruz and Lee played a major role in events slightly more than a year ago that led to a partial government shutdown — an event McConnell, Boehner and most Republicans have vowed to avoid repeating. This time, Republican officials said they may have inadvertently given Reid an opening to win confirmation for several of Obama’s nominees that might otherwise have languished.
With the end of the two-year Congress approaching, Reid is pressing to confirm about 20 Obama nominees to fill posts such as surgeon general, director of the Social Security Administration and federal judgeships.
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/senate-budget-bill-cruz/2014/12/13/id/612818/
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