Cruz Watch
Posted: Sat May 02, 2015 1:31 pm
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20150501-ted-cruzs-claim-after-skipping-lynch-vote-has-aides-pedaling-fast.ece
Ted Cruz’s claim after skipping Lynch vote has aides pedaling fast
WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Cruz, stung by criticism for skipping Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s confirmation vote to rub elbows with donors, claimed Thursday that “absence is the equivalent of a no vote.”
That’s an unconventional interpretation of Senate rules.
On Friday afternoon, aides sought to contain the damage.
“Senator Cruz was referring specifically to the Lynch vote. He made clear his opposition to her nomination and voted against cloture, which was the vote that mattered most. Once cloture was invoked, her confirmation was guaranteed,” campaign spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said.
A day earlier, Cruz had insisted that skipping the Lynch vote was tantamount to opposing her, as he had vowed to do for months.
In congressional records, a senator who misses a vote is marked as not voting. Counting those as “no” votes would suggest a number of contradictions and even more hard-to-explain stances.
By the logic Cruz applied to the Lynch vote, his absences reflect opposition even to measures and nominees he publicly supported.
For instance, Cruz missed confirmation votes in the past month for Judges Alfred Bennett and George Hanks to federal benches in the Southern District of Texas. Yet he had jointly recommended them with Sen. John Cornyn, and in September he called them “judges of the highest caliber.”
Bennett was confirmed 95-0; Hanks, 91-0.
As with the Lynch vote, Cruz was the only senator to miss a vote establishing a deficit-neutral fund to support Israel. It passed the Senate 99-0 two days after he launched his campaign for president. He’s also been the only senator to miss votes on measures to provide human-trafficking victims with financial and medical support (99-0) and to fund water pollution control (99-0).
Senators often miss votes to give speeches, handle personal business, raise funds or stump for office. Absenteeism is especially common for those running for president.
Cruz has missed 26 percent of Senate votes in 2015 and almost 70 percent in April — far more than other GOP contenders. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has missed 19 percent of votes this year, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has missed just two votes.
Cruz had railed against the Lynch nomination for months.
The day of her confirmation, he made a speech on the Senate floor blasting Republicans who would side with Democrats to cut off the debate — a group that included both Cornyn and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He blamed them for letting Lynch become the nation’s chief law enforcement officer.
Twenty Republicans sided with Democrats on the procedural vote, and 10 of them ended up voting for confirmation two hours later.
By then, Cruz was heading to Dallas for a fundraiser.
As his spokeswoman noted, his vote wouldn’t have tipped the outcome once the procedural fight was lost. Lynch was confirmed 56-43.
But a number of Republican senators bristled at Cruz’s finger-pointing, including Cornyn, the deputy GOP leader.
“Cloture ends debate only. It does not confirm a nominee. Otherwise a subsequent vote on whether to confirm a nominee is meaningless,” Cornyn tweeted.
Ted Cruz’s claim after skipping Lynch vote has aides pedaling fast
WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Cruz, stung by criticism for skipping Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s confirmation vote to rub elbows with donors, claimed Thursday that “absence is the equivalent of a no vote.”
That’s an unconventional interpretation of Senate rules.
On Friday afternoon, aides sought to contain the damage.
“Senator Cruz was referring specifically to the Lynch vote. He made clear his opposition to her nomination and voted against cloture, which was the vote that mattered most. Once cloture was invoked, her confirmation was guaranteed,” campaign spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said.
A day earlier, Cruz had insisted that skipping the Lynch vote was tantamount to opposing her, as he had vowed to do for months.
In congressional records, a senator who misses a vote is marked as not voting. Counting those as “no” votes would suggest a number of contradictions and even more hard-to-explain stances.
By the logic Cruz applied to the Lynch vote, his absences reflect opposition even to measures and nominees he publicly supported.
For instance, Cruz missed confirmation votes in the past month for Judges Alfred Bennett and George Hanks to federal benches in the Southern District of Texas. Yet he had jointly recommended them with Sen. John Cornyn, and in September he called them “judges of the highest caliber.”
Bennett was confirmed 95-0; Hanks, 91-0.
As with the Lynch vote, Cruz was the only senator to miss a vote establishing a deficit-neutral fund to support Israel. It passed the Senate 99-0 two days after he launched his campaign for president. He’s also been the only senator to miss votes on measures to provide human-trafficking victims with financial and medical support (99-0) and to fund water pollution control (99-0).
Senators often miss votes to give speeches, handle personal business, raise funds or stump for office. Absenteeism is especially common for those running for president.
Cruz has missed 26 percent of Senate votes in 2015 and almost 70 percent in April — far more than other GOP contenders. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has missed 19 percent of votes this year, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has missed just two votes.
Cruz had railed against the Lynch nomination for months.
The day of her confirmation, he made a speech on the Senate floor blasting Republicans who would side with Democrats to cut off the debate — a group that included both Cornyn and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He blamed them for letting Lynch become the nation’s chief law enforcement officer.
Twenty Republicans sided with Democrats on the procedural vote, and 10 of them ended up voting for confirmation two hours later.
By then, Cruz was heading to Dallas for a fundraiser.
As his spokeswoman noted, his vote wouldn’t have tipped the outcome once the procedural fight was lost. Lynch was confirmed 56-43.
But a number of Republican senators bristled at Cruz’s finger-pointing, including Cornyn, the deputy GOP leader.
“Cloture ends debate only. It does not confirm a nominee. Otherwise a subsequent vote on whether to confirm a nominee is meaningless,” Cornyn tweeted.
