Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) says the roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill was so divisive among his colleagues that their conversations turned into screaming matches before it passed the chamber.
During an appearance on Fox News on Monday, Cruz said, “It was crazy in the Senate. For about two months, we had massive arguments over this bill. I mean screaming arguments at lunch.”
“We have lunch together every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, all the Senate Republicans, and there were about a third of the Senate Republicans who end up voting for this,” he added.
Watch the video below:
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) says Senate Republicans had “screaming arguments at lunch” over the infrastructure bill. pic.twitter.com/AstZkLwFEf
— The Recount (@therecount) November 9, 2021
In August, the Senate passed the infrastructure bill with 19 Republicans voting for it. And late Friday night, the House passed the bill with 13 Republicans voting for it.
The decision of the 13 Republicans to vote for the bill sparked criticism from other members of their party.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) weighed in on the vote on Twitter as she wrote, “[Six] Democrats did more than these 13 traitor Republicans to stop Biden’s fake Infrastructure bill by voting NO.”
Punchbowl News reports, “The GOP leadership is bracing for rank-and-file lawmakers to attempt to strip committee assignments from the 13 Republican lawmakers who voted for the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. Several of these lawmakers are also ranking members — top Republicans on committees — and those could be at risk, too.”
“A number of GOP lawmakers were upset by the fact that several of their Republican colleagues voted early for the infrastructure package, helping Democrats cross the majority threshold on a key piece of President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda and undermining their party strategy,” the outlet added.
While some House Republicans have expressed frustration with their colleagues for voting for the bill, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Monday, “I was delighted that the House finally found a way to pass the infrastructure bill last week.”