Ted Cruz locked in nasty committee fight with Democrats

Bipartisanship is falling apart at the Senate Commerce Committee after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) won plaudits last month for shepherding the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization through committee and into law.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) ripped Cruz on Monday night for fighting “petty partisan culture wars” over the Spectrum and National Security Act, which was supposed to receive a markup in committee that day.

Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) says she was forced to postpone the committee markup of legislation to extend subsidies for high-speed internet because Cruz had insisted on modifications that would have “gutted” bipartisan amendments that had been negotiated with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

Cantwell said the “hard-won compromise” on the Affordable Connectivity Program to help low-income families afford speedy internet had been “months in the making” and would have provided a “balanced approach to spectrum management.”

And she argued that it would have expanded high-speed connectivity for lower income families while “protecting our defense by ensuring our military has telecommunications they need” by preserving spectrum that the Defense Department doesn’t want to auction off. 

Cantwell blamed Cruz for “obstructing” the bill’s progress and urged him and other Republicans to “get back to negotiating.” 

A Senate Democratic aide said Cruz alone had filed 38 amendments and modified amendments to the bill and 14 amendments or modifications to bipartisan reforms Wicker proposed for the Affordable Connectivity Program.

A Republican source familiar with the internal committee discussion said those figures were misleading and that Cantwell and her staff knew for “months” what changes they wanted to make to the bill.

The GOP source said Cruz was forced to propose modifications to existing amendments because Cantwell didn’t want to allow Republicans to offer new amendments to the bill despite rewriting it several times.

But Cantwell believes Cruz’s ultimate goal was to stop the reauthorization of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) dead in its tracks.

“I definitely don’t think he likes ACP, that’s for sure,” Cantwell told The Hill. “I think they really don’t want to have a bill. I think there are some in the private sector who don’t even want to have a bill because I think they’re not ready to bid.

“I think that those on the other side [of the aisle] are protecting those interests,” she said. “This was a hard-fought compromise.”

Cruz has presented himself as a bipartisan problem solver during his reelection race in Texas, telling The Texas Tribune earlier this year that “I actually have very good relationships with many of my colleagues across the aisle.”

His supporters earlier this year launched “Democrats for Cruz” to entice centrist and left-leaning voters to support him over Democratic Rep. Colin Allred (Texas) in the general election.  

At the same time, Cruz has taken shots at Democrats. 

The Texas senator on Tuesday ripped Cantwell for moving a bill that he says would have given “free internet to illegal aliens, millions to antisemitic colleges, and billions to mega-corporations with no strings attached.”

“In a shameless blame-game, Democrats accidentally revealed what they truly think about taxpayers — that they are dupes,” he fumed in a statement. “Pathetic and offensive.”

Cruz issued his statement after Schumer and Cantwell slammed him for blocking a bill that they say would help 23 million Americans who rely on federal subsidies to use the Internet.

“Sadly, it is clear Ranking Member Cruz is more interested in carrying water for big corporations than helping working families in Texas. Instead of making these much-needed and common-sense investments, Senator Cruz has chosen to obstruct and delay the committee process with petty partisan culture wars all to serve wealthy and well-connected corporations at the cost of working Americans who are struggling to get by,” Schumer said in a scathing statement.

Democrats accused Cruz of trying to force vulnerable Senate Democrats on the Commerce panel, including Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.) and Jacky Rosen (Nev.), to vote on politically dangerous amendments.

One proposed amendment would have restricted Affordable Connectivity Program subsidies from going to illegal immigrants, while another would have kept National Science Foundation money and National Institute of Standards and Technology funds from going to universities and colleges under investigation for antisemitic incidents related to the Gaza anti-war protests.

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and a member of the Commerce Committee, said Republicans derailed the markup by pushing political “gotcha” amendments.

“Yes, there are some of those,” he said.

The sudden blowup with Cruz over the little-noticed broadband spectrum legislation contrasted with his handling of a a five-year FAA reauthorization he helped steer through the Senate.

Cruz protected that bill from poison-pill amendments, defying his reputation as a conservative bomb-thrower.

The Texan has long been seen as a tough partisan, and even fellow Republicans watched with amusement last month as Cruz transformed from conservative rebel into committee leader tasked with keeping an important train running on time.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said last month that Cruz had taken “a lot of ribbing” over playing the role of responsible graybeard by shutting down votes to amend the FAA bill.

“Of course, he’s making a pitch that this is different than all the other times when he’s insisted on having amendment votes, because this one was much more transparent … People are slightly amused by his compliance,” Cramer told The Hill.  

Senate Democrats, however, were not at all pleased with Cruz’s effort to rebrand himself as a bipartisan deal-maker who can work across the aisle to get things done.

One Senate Democratic aide said getting the five-year reauthorization passed through the Senate was “the bare minimum” Cruz had to do to discharge his responsibility as the top-ranking Republican on the Commerce Committee.

“That’s the bare minimum if you’re the ranking member of the committee. What are you going to do? Say no?” the aide said.

A Democratic senator was even more blunt in trying to knock down the narrative that Cruz is “the better bipartisan” compared to Allred, as he told The Texas Tribune.

“I never said that,” the senator said of the notion that Cruz has become adept as a bipartisan deal-maker. “I think it’s insane.” 

Cruz and Sen. Rick Scott (R) of Florida are viewed as the Senate’s two most vulnerable GOP incumbents in this year’s election, though both are favored to win.

Democrats have touted Texas and Florida as pickup opportunities, something they are desperate for given the retirement of Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and the tough races that Tester and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) face in Montana and Ohio, two states Trump won in 2016 and 2020.