Senate Republican leadership berated Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) for trying to force a Senate vote designed to defund Planned Parenthood, reported The Hill. In response, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) lost his mind and vehemently criticized the Senate Republican leadership.
Lee attempted to shoehorn an amendment written to defund Planned Parenthood into a piece of highway-funding legislation supported by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). McConnell blocked Lee’s effort because he said it was irrelevant to the highway bill. McConnell did, however, allow two other amendments to the highway bill, one designed to repeal the Affordable Care Act and another to reauthorize Export-Import Bank lending to foreign customers of American exporters. Cruz became infuriated.
Cruz fired off on McConnell, saying that the Majority Leader sidestepped a vote regarding Planned Parenthood. When Senate Republicans declined to vote on whether to defund Planned Parenthood, Cruz became unhinged. “The so-called Republican leader led the effort to continue the taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood,” said Cruz. “It makes clear that the McConnell-Reid leadership team is united in favor of big government spending, and debt and power.”
Tensions between Cruz’s extreme wing of the GOP and the party Establishment created a turbulent weekend in the Senate. Cruz’s knee-jerk insanity regarding Planned Parenthood makes the GOP Establishment look reasonable.
