Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah like to get attention, but they don’t necessarily have any strategic sense. This is particularly true about short-game strategic thinking, although they may be having more long-game success at influencing American politics. After all, pretty much everyone thought that closing down the government in 2013 distracted from the disastrous rollout of the healthcare.gov website and was going to damage the Republicans’ prospects in the midterms. The latter obviously did not happen.
Likewise, it’s possible that the Republicans will benefit from Cruz and Lee forcing a weekend of unnecessarily partisan acrimony in the Senate only to get crushed 22-74 in the final tally on their point of order vote. The fact that half the existing Republican caucus voted against Cruz and Lee highlights how unpopular their gambits are among their own colleagues. But most of them didn’t want the government shutdown in 2013, either.
In the short-term, this wasn’t just an inconvenience. It was a huge blunder.
The decision irked Republican leaders because it allowed Reid to begin setting up votes on a controversial surgeon general nominee that has linked gun violence and public health, the elevation of a White House adviser to the State department, a politically charged ICE director and lifetime court appointments that the GOP has fought tooth and nail. McConnell had sought to have no confirmation work this weekend, preserving the GOP’s leverage next week as the Christmas holiday approached and Democrats’ patience ran thin.
Informed that confirmation of nominations was now rolling on Saturday much earlier than expected by Republicans, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) replied: “I wish you hadn’t pointed that out.”
…Had Cruz and Lee agreed to Reid and McConnell’s deal, the conservatives could have received the same constitutional point of order vote on Monday, though they attracted extra attention from both their colleagues and political watchers by forcing the Saturday session. But the point of order was defeated, so the result was the same: The omnibus was sent to the president without defunding the immigration order — and Obama appears set to win quicker approval of his nominations.
The immediate result is that the administration will almost certainly get more nominees confirmed (and sooner) than they otherwise would have. The vote also demonstrated a split within the Republican caucus that may be less ideological than personal. Cruz and Lee’s effectiveness will be muted by the fact that they are loathed by many of their caucus colleagues.
Yet, they don’t seem to care so much about legislative accomplishments as they do about being party scolds and gadflies who enforce wingnuttery on their erstwhile allies.
In the greater scope of things, Cruz and Lee may be winning despite appearances.
