- Mon Nov 17, 2014 6:33 pm
#49686
Standing just feet from the Senate chamber Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz made a declaration that should give Majority Leader-elect Mitch McConnell pause.
"The only people who have ever threatened a government shutdown have been President Obama and [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid,” said Cruz, the Texas Republican who is widely regarded as the mastermind of the GOP’s 2013 government-shutdown strategy. “They forced a government shutdown last year. Nobody on the Republican side wants to see a government shutdown,” he said.
Moments after Cruz spoke, McConnell held a press conference on the other side of the chamber to celebrate his election as leader. “We will not be shutting the government down or threatening to default on the federal debt,” he declared, repeating a promise he’d made at his victory press conference after his re-election.
McConnell’s promise, however, is easier said than kept. And Cruz’s remarks underscore why.
Cruz had made exactly the same argument in 2013, just hours before provoking the first shutdown of the U.S. government since the 1990s, a closure that lasted 16 days and came with a $24 billion pricetag. “Let me be very, very clear. I do not believe we should shut down the federal government. The only reason we might shut down the federal government is if President Obama and Majority Leader Harry Reid decide they want to force a government shutdown,” Cruz said in September 2013.
Now Republicans on the Hill say they are anxious for Cruz or like-minded House conservatives to again take up the charge as they stand up to what they see as Democratic abuse of the levers of power in a two-party system.
Whereas the 2013 shutdown came on the heels of Republican opposition to the president over funding the Affordable Care Act—which passed Congress in 2010 with only Democratic support—congressional conservatives today are itching for a fight over Obama’s expected executive order on immigration, which could delay or prevent the deportation of up to 5 million undocumented people.
Cruz has already vowed to do anything in his power to stop Obama from carrying out his plan, and told Yahoo News that the party should aim to “get past the lame duck and into the next session” before passing a long-term spending bill so that ousted senators are not setting the long-term agenda.
Meanwhile, a growing group of House conservatives who oppose immigration changes, like Steve King of Iowa and Virginia’s Dave Brat—whose ads against “amnesty” helped him defeat former Majority Leader Eric Cantor—are now telling reporters that they would support a shutdown strategy in an attempt to force Obama to face broad national consequences if he issues an executive order on deportations.
Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said that Republicans will fight “tooth and nail” against such an executive order. Like McConnell, Boehner says he’d prefer to avoid another shutdown. But unlike McConnell, he has not taken shutdown off the table.
And while Republican leaders remember the tumult that the shutdown caused for the party — GOP favorability plummeted to 28 percent — conservatives point to the 2014 midterms as proof the effort did not hurt Republicans in the least.
The shutdown threats have thrown more moderate Republican aides into a tizzy.
“Everyone saw what a disaster it was,” said one senior Senate Republican aide. “There’s got to be a better way to succeed than shutting down the government. We have to be smarter than that.”
"The only people who have ever threatened a government shutdown have been President Obama and [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid,” said Cruz, the Texas Republican who is widely regarded as the mastermind of the GOP’s 2013 government-shutdown strategy. “They forced a government shutdown last year. Nobody on the Republican side wants to see a government shutdown,” he said.
Moments after Cruz spoke, McConnell held a press conference on the other side of the chamber to celebrate his election as leader. “We will not be shutting the government down or threatening to default on the federal debt,” he declared, repeating a promise he’d made at his victory press conference after his re-election.
McConnell’s promise, however, is easier said than kept. And Cruz’s remarks underscore why.
Cruz had made exactly the same argument in 2013, just hours before provoking the first shutdown of the U.S. government since the 1990s, a closure that lasted 16 days and came with a $24 billion pricetag. “Let me be very, very clear. I do not believe we should shut down the federal government. The only reason we might shut down the federal government is if President Obama and Majority Leader Harry Reid decide they want to force a government shutdown,” Cruz said in September 2013.
Now Republicans on the Hill say they are anxious for Cruz or like-minded House conservatives to again take up the charge as they stand up to what they see as Democratic abuse of the levers of power in a two-party system.
Whereas the 2013 shutdown came on the heels of Republican opposition to the president over funding the Affordable Care Act—which passed Congress in 2010 with only Democratic support—congressional conservatives today are itching for a fight over Obama’s expected executive order on immigration, which could delay or prevent the deportation of up to 5 million undocumented people.
Cruz has already vowed to do anything in his power to stop Obama from carrying out his plan, and told Yahoo News that the party should aim to “get past the lame duck and into the next session” before passing a long-term spending bill so that ousted senators are not setting the long-term agenda.
Meanwhile, a growing group of House conservatives who oppose immigration changes, like Steve King of Iowa and Virginia’s Dave Brat—whose ads against “amnesty” helped him defeat former Majority Leader Eric Cantor—are now telling reporters that they would support a shutdown strategy in an attempt to force Obama to face broad national consequences if he issues an executive order on deportations.
Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said that Republicans will fight “tooth and nail” against such an executive order. Like McConnell, Boehner says he’d prefer to avoid another shutdown. But unlike McConnell, he has not taken shutdown off the table.
And while Republican leaders remember the tumult that the shutdown caused for the party — GOP favorability plummeted to 28 percent — conservatives point to the 2014 midterms as proof the effort did not hurt Republicans in the least.
The shutdown threats have thrown more moderate Republican aides into a tizzy.
“Everyone saw what a disaster it was,” said one senior Senate Republican aide. “There’s got to be a better way to succeed than shutting down the government. We have to be smarter than that.”
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