If Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had hoped that by pulling an all-nighter on the Senate floor talking about his hatred of the Affordable Care Act would convince legislators to rally against discussing the law in the Senate then his stunt was a failure; the Senate voted unanimously to move forward to discuss a bill that would further fund the government and avoid a shutdown, according to the Associated Press.
If Cruz's intention behind the 20-plus hour speech was to give himself national recognition three years ahead of the 2016 presidential election that he appears to have his eyes on than the speech was a rousing success, according to Reuters.
"Firing up the base is what his first step is," Bruce Buchanan, a professor of political science at the University of Texas in Austin, told Reuters. "He doesn't care about the establishment Republicans. Cruz is taking up all the oxygen [among possible presidential candidates] right now."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Cruz's speech a "big waste of time;" time is something that is of the essence in getting the bill passed. Reid and the Democrats have enough votes to strip the provision that defunds the Affordable Care Act from the bill and then, hopefully, pass the rest of the bill that would allow the government to avoid a shutdown, according to the Associated Press.
If the bill is passed without the rider defunding the Affordable Care Act it will have to head back to the House for more consideration. It is unclear how the House will act but they will have until Tuesday to pass a final bill that funds the government if they wish to avoid a shutdown.
Cruz is expected to take try and rally support to block a vote on the bill when another test vote like the one that passed unanimously today comes up later in the week. The vote will require 60 votes for the bill to receive further consideration, according to Fox News.
Cruz appears to have alienated some of his fellow Republicans with his speech; most notably Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who took particular offense to Cruz comparing those who oppose his effort to those who appeased Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler leading up to World War II, according to Reuters.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told Fox News that he believes that Cruz's speech did more to help the Democratic position than it did to hurt it.
"Senator Cruz has actually advanced our cause," Schumer said. "He has alienated some of his colleagues. He has united Democrats. And he has shown the American people he is willing to hold them and their wellbeing hostage unless he gets his way."
