Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) historic, 21-plus-hour endurance feat on the Senate floor was a rallying cry for the firmest segments of the anti-Obamacare movement, a call for official Washington to listen more to its constituents — and a serious source of annoyance for the Senate majority leader.
Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) took the floor shortly after the forced conclusion of Cruz’s ‘filibuster’-style speech Wednesday to first offer brief, backhanded plaudits, and then lengthier, irritated criticisms.
“We all admire the senator from Texas for his wanting to talk. With all due respect, I’m not sure if we learned anything new,” Reid said toward the beginning of his remarks. “For lack a better way of describing this, it’s been a big waste of time. The government is set to shut down in a matter of hours, just a few days. And it’s a shame we’re standing here having wasted perhaps two days … when we could pass what we need to pass very quickly.”
The legislation currently before the Senate, the House-passed ‘continuing resolution’ that temporarily extends government funding and also defunds Obamacare, has a Sept. 30 deadline for enactment in order to avoid a government shutdown. Because of time-consuming mechanisms in Senate procedure, Reid repeatedly has expressed concern that the House would be pressed for time in acting on whatever the Senate passes, and according disdain for Cruz’s floor-hogging tactics — even though by rule, the vote Reid scheduled for Wednesday was not delayed by the Texas Republican’s long speech.
Reid then circled back to past attacks on Cruz and the Tea Party movement.
“I do believe that what we have here with the so-called Tea Party is a new effort to strike government however they can, to hurt government,” Reid said. “Any day that government is hurt is a good day for them. It’s, as I’ve said before, the new anarchy.”
Watch the video of Reid’s remarks below:
