A rare 100-0 vote took place in the U.S. Senate just one scant hour after freshman Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas completed his filibuster delaying the vote on the House-passed temporary spending bill that excluded funding for President Obama's Healthcare program.
Cloture was invoked on a motion to proceed with the House continuing resolution, the funding bill will now go through 30 hours of debate before going to a vote on Thursday. It is all but certain that funding for Obama’s Health care bill will be included into the bill that will make its way back to the House.
Cruz’s filibuster only complicated matters for House Republicans, who will have to consider the Senate-modified bill before voting on it on Monday. An agreement must be reached by Monday night to avoid shutdown of government agencies on Tuesday.
Senior Republicans in Congress were angered over the freshman lawmaker’s filibuster and his attempt to shut down government. They understand the damage done to the Republican party after a shutdown in the 90s when a Republican-controlled Congress butted heads with then-president Bill Clinton. Republicans fear that another government shutdown will do little more tahan hurt their chances in next year’s congressional elections.
Senator McCain lashed out at the first-term Senator for his remarks that he believed that Republican Lawmakers did not fight hard enough to stop Obama’s Healthcare law from becoming law in 2010. McaCain also took offense to Cruz’s remarks comparing U.S. Legislators to Nazi appeasers during World War II.
Cruz’s filibuster lasted long after first light this morning and continued for 21 hours and 19 minutes.