Ted Cruz

[Congressional biography]

Born: December 22, 1970 in Calgary, Alberta

Education:

Career:

Key Senate Vote Data for Ted Cruz in 2019

Date	Subject	Result	Conserv. Position	Cruz Voted
2019	Confrmation of Trump-Appointed Judges (multiple votes)
This slate of votes serves as symbolic recognition of the persistence of conservatives led by President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to confirm 102 judges in 2019 alone. ACU lauds the determination of members of the Senate who strengthened the judiciary branch for decades to come by confirming remarkably qualified nominees, including Bress, Bumatay, Collins, Lee, Menashi, Myers, Park, Pitlyk, Rao, Readler, Rushing, Truncale, Van Dyke, and Walker to federal court positions. Lawmakers who consistently voted to confirm conservative judges throughout 2019, including all of the aforementioned judges, were recorded as supporting the ACU position. (This matter is double- weighted due to the crucial lifetime roles for this cadre of judges to uphold the Constitution.)
2019-01-17	Protecting Life by Prohibiting Taxpayer Funded Abortion [S109]	Rejected (48-47)
Motion to invoke cloture (end debate) on a bill which would permanently enact the Hyde Amendment to prohibit federal taxpayer funds to be used to take the life of an unborn child. Conservative lawmakers have added the Hyde Amendment to numerous appropriations and health care-related bills, and this legislation would make the amendment permanent law. Furthermore, the bill would prevent abortions from being performed in a federal health care facility or by a federal employee. The bill would provide exemptions to allow federal funding to protect the life of the mother from life-endangering physical conditions or in cases of rape or incest. Finally, the bill would clarify that the provisions of the Hyde Amendment also apply to the District of Columbia government.
2019-02-12	Expanding Government Land Control through the Reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund [S47]	Passed (92-8)
This bill makes permanent the Land and Water Conservation Fund which allows more land-grabbing by the federal government. This fund is used to expand federal land holdings, which produces perverse results that harm private property rights through voracious landgrabs and restrictions on the extraction of mineral rights. Not to mention the National Park Service already has a $12 billion backlog to maintain existing landholdings. ACU believes the private sector and the states are best equipped to manage land, opposes further expanding federal land control -- especially considering the federal government already controls an astonishing and unsustainable 28% of the country's total land.
2019-02-14	Confirming William P. Barr as Attorney General of the United States	Confirmed (54-45)
This vote confirms William P. Barr as the 85th United States Attorney General. Barr has led a long and distinguished career upholding the rule of law and was previously confirmed unanimously by voice vote as the 77th Attorney General under George H.W. Bush. This confirmation is especially crucial following two years at the Department of Justice when Jeff Sessions recused himself from the partisan attack known as the Mueller investigation which was aimed at removing President Trump from office based on Democrat-funded opposition research abetted by the deep state resistance. ACU believes Barr has consistently demonstrated his commitment to upholding the U.S. Constitution as the nation's chief law enforcement officer and supported this nomination.
2019-02-25	Protecting Children Who Survive Abortion [S311]	Rejected (53-44)
Motion to invoke cloture (end debate) on a bill which would amend the U.S. Code to require health practitioners to immediately admit to a hospital any child who is born alive after an abortion is attempted and failed. Additionally, health practitioners would face criminal penalties if they do not provide the same degree of care to children who survive abortion as they would any other child. (Lawmakers who were absent for this vote were counted as supporting or opposing the ACU position based on their public statements.)
2019-02-28	Confirming Andrew R. Wheeler as Administrator of the EPA	Confirmed (52-47)
This vote confirms Andrew R. Wheeler as the 15th Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Wheeler has served as chief counsel to Sen. Inhofe (R-OK) and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and has protected property rights, combatted overregulation, and ensured proper environmental protection throughout his career at the EPA. ACU believes Wheeler is remarkably qualified to carry out the Trump administration's efforts to reform an agency that the Obama administration weaponized to infringe property rights and interfere in business operations.
2019-03-26	Threatening Economic Catastrophe by Enacting the "Green New Deal" [SJRES8]	Rejected (0-57)
This resolution, known as the Green New Deal, asserts the duty of Congress to contrive the sprawling socialist agenda proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). The plan calls for the complete elimination of all energy except so-called "renewable" and zero-emission sources within 10 years. Additionally, the plan would impose paralyzing energy-efficiency regulations on buildings and the manufacturing industry. Furthermore, the plan would foster racial discrimination by directing funds to people strictly based on their race and mandating that the bill's provisions be carried out exclusively by unionized employers. ACU opposes the devastating effect this plan's regulations and $10 trillion costs would have on the country and finds support by lawmakers for Green New Deal fantasies to be blatantly corrupt, ludicrous and laughable. (Members who voted "present" to avoid admitting that they favor this radical policy were recorded as opposing the ACU position.)
2019-04-03	Protecting the Integrity of the Judiciary by Reducing Debate Time	Rejected (48-51)
This vote changes Senate rules to help ensure the confirmation of judges dedicated to the Constitution and nominees to crucial executive branch positions by eliminating tools that allowed the Democrat minority to nearly indefinitely hold up Trump nominees. Specifically, this vote reduced debate time following a motion to end debate from 30 hours to two hours for the majority of nominations, excluding cabinet secretaries, Supreme Court nominees and appeals court judges. Sen. Schumer (D-NY) has used the 30-hour delay tactic to hold Trump nominees hostage by forcing cloture to be invoked 264 times through 2019, compared to 32 cloture votes combined for the first terms of the previous four presidents. There are some Republicans who say these delay tactics could be useful for Republican minorities in the future; however, ACU believes it is a serious breach of American values to delay over 200 nominees in an attempt to prevent the executive branch from advancing any conservative reforms. ACU opposes Sen. Schumer's weaponization of cloture, supports this measure to confirm judges dedicated to the Constitution and properly staff the executive branch with competent officials in these crucial, Senate-confirmed positions and supported this rule change.
2019-04-11	Confirming David Bernhardt as Secretary of the Interior	Confirmed (56-41)
This vote confirms David Bernhardt as the 53rd U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Throughout his tenure as deputy secretary of the Department of Interior, Bernhardt was seen as the driving force behind aggressively implementing the Trump administration's efforts to protect property rights. Such successes include eliminating abuses of the Endangered Species Act and cutting bureaucratic red tape in the permitting process for federal lands and offshore drilling. ACU recognizes Bernhardt has fought for limited government principles and strong property rights protections throughout his career and supported this nomination.
2019-05-23	Hiking Wasteful Spending under the Guise of "Emergency" Disaster Relief [HR2157]	Passed (85-8)
This supplemental appropriations bill appropriates $19.1 billion in so-called "emergency" disaster relief spending. However, according to the Congressional Budget Office, only $5.3 billion of these funds would be spent in 2019, demonstrating that the majority of these funds have nothing to do with any kind of emergency. Additionally, the lion's share of the funds have been earmarked for programs benefiting special interests such as the National Flood Insurance Program and "climate crisis" slush funds, feeding into the worst kind of cronyism. This vote also came at a time when the Federal Emergency Management Agency had a balance in its account exceeding $28 billion. ACU opposes this scheme to bypass spending caps, opposes expanding wasteful government spending under the guise of "emergency" disaster relief, resulting in the nation lacking revenue for true emergencies.
2019-06-26	Funding Humanitarian Assistance and Border Security through a Reduction in Foreign Aid [HR3401]	Agreed To (77-15)
Motion to table (kill) the Paul (R-KY) amendment to a supplemental appropriations bill, which would fund humanitarian assistance and security at the southern border by rescinding and re-appropriating roughly $4.5 billion in foreign aid (approximately 10% of total U.S. foreign aid). ACU supports prioritizing funds to strengthen national security and address the crisis at the southern border.
2019-07-23	Ensuring Compensation to Victims of the September 11th Attack Does Not Languish in Bureaucracy [HR1327]	Rejected (32-66)
Lee (R-UT) amendment to a bill establishing a permanent September 11th victim compensation fund would help ensure benefits are properly delivered to intended beneficiaries and not misused by government. The amendment would authorize a set amount of funds each decade through 2092 in order to cover all claims of September 11th victims. Prior to the amendment, the bill did not specify any funding amounts, potentially permitting money to be improperly channeled through the fund to other purposes and misused for unrelated government programs. ACU believes that funds dedicated to heroes of the September 11th attacks should not be squandered or diverted from their intended purpose. (The underlying bill was signed into law without this crucial reform.)
2019-08-01	Authorizing a Fiscally Irresponsible Budget [HR3877]	Passed (67-28)
This bill, known as the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, codifies the budget deal that busts the budget caps by $320 billion, suspends the debt limit, and "pays" for the new spending through budget gimmicks. Such gimmicks include changes in mandatory program spending (CHIMPs) which artificially create "savings" which are never actually realized. ACU believes the Senate missed a real opportunity to make the case that national security comes before all other spending by failing to offer an amendment to improve defense readiness while maintaining the domestic spending budget caps. While ACU supports additional defense spending necessary to improve defense readiness, we oppose busting the domestic spending budget caps which are intended to provide some form of fiscal discipline on Congress.
2019-09-25	Forcing Taxpayers to Provide Paid Family Leave to Federal Employees [SRES333]	Rejected (47-48)
This resolution, introduced by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), would instruct the Senate conferees to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to acquiesce to the Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) House language to mandate paid family leave for all federal employees (beyond the Department of Defense). Specifically, the resolution would provide federal employees with 12 weeks' paid leave in addition to the 13 to 26 days' paid leave (plus holidays) already available -- resulting in a cost to taxpayers of $3.3 billion over the next four years. ACU has a pair of novel suggestions. No. 1: the NDAA should only be for issues pertaining to national security. No. 2: acquiescing to anything that is called "Pelosi language" will most assuredly be negatively scored. ACU recognizes, as noted in a 2017 Congressional Budget Office study, that federal employees already receive higher compensation than comparable private sector employees, and opposes burdening taxpayers with billions in additional costs to provide even more lucrative benefits to government employees.
2019-09-26	Confirming Eugene Scalia as Secretary of Labor	Confirmed (53-44)
This vote confirms Eugene Scalia as 28th U.S. Secretary of Labor. Scalia was previously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the solicitor of the Labor Department in the George W. Bush administration. Scalia is regarded as one of the best labor lawyers in the country and has fought excessive government regulations and protected the right of employees and employers to freely contract. ACU believes Scalia will aggressively carry out the Trump administration's efforts to overturn Obama-era regulations which have immensely harmed private businesses.
2019-10-17	Raising Energy Costs by Reinstating Obama's War on Coal [SJRES53]	Defeated (41-53)
This resolution, introduced by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), would invoke the Congressional Review Act to repeal the Trump administration's regulatory reforms and reinstate the disastrous Obama-era Clean Power Plan regulations. These regulations would destroy the coal industry and result in enormous price hikes for consumers to heat and cool their homes, in addition to rising prices for many other goods and services. The Trump administration rolled back these Obama-era regulations through the Affordable Clean Energy rule which addressed greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining the competitive edge of the U.S. economy. ACU supports all sources of energy and supports the Trump administration's efforts to repeal Obama-era environmental regulations that have enormously harmed the economy, stagnated job growth, and catapulted consumer electricity costs.
2019-10-22	Confirming Andrew P. Bremberg as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva	Confirmed (50-44)
This vote confirms Andrew P. Bremberg as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva. As an ambassador, Bremberg will play a crucial role in carrying out the Trump administration's efforts to protect the lives of unborn children, defend intellectual property rights, and protect the sovereignty of the United States from the central-planning delusions of the United Nations. ACU supports strong conservative representation at the United Nations to combat the left's "abortion-on-demand" agenda, and believes Bremberg is especially qualified given his consistent support for the right to life.
2019-10-30	Increasing Health Care Costs by Preventing States from Reforming Obamacare [SJRES52]	Defeated (43-52)
Warner (D-VA) resolution, which would invoke the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn the Trump administration's efforts to allow insurers to offer less expensive, short-term health plans. The Trump administration provided states flexibility to bypass Obamacare mandates by permitting states to submit "state relief and empowerment waivers" to the federal Department of Health and Human Services under section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act. This resolution would invoke the CRA to undo the Trump administration's reforms and largely prohibit insurers from offering short-term health insurance plans or other policies exempt from the ACA's costly "essential health benefit" mandates. ACU has long opposed Obamacare and its heavy-handed mandates which have led to skyrocketing health care costs and supports the Trump administration's use of waivers to provide consumers with more affordable health care by permitting them to select the health plans that best suit their needs.
2019-10-31	Protecting Taxpayer Funds by Prioritizing Government Land Maintenance over New Acquisition [HR3055]	Rejected (29-64)
Lee (R-UT) amendment to a continuing appropriations and health extenders bill, which would protect taxpayer funds from being used to acquire new land which the federal government cannot properly manage. Under the amendment, money within the Land and Water Conservation Fund would be prohibited from being used to acquire additional land, and instead the funds would be re-prioritized to care for the existing land owned by the federal government. This reform is particularly necessary considering the National Park Service currently has a land maintenance backlog of $12 billion and the federal government controls an astonishing and unsustainable 28% of the country's total land. ACU believes the private sector and the states are best equipped to manage land and believes it is absurd for the federal government to continue to indebt taxpayers to acquire more private land while it continually fails to manage the enormous land holdings already under its control.
2019-10-31	Increasing Debt by Removing a Mass Transit Budget Control Mechanism [HR3055]	Agreed To (82-11)
Jones (D-AL) amendment to a continuing appropriations and health extenders bill allows mass transit programs to be exempted from the financial discipline of being paid for based on anticipated tax collections. Since spending was projected to exceed the amount of funds available within the mass transit account of the Highway Trust Fund, a 12% across-the-board cut was scheduled to go into effect. Instead, this amendment allows Congress to violate the "Rostenkowski solvency test" which is named after a longtime liberal Democrat from Chicago who realized Congress must find a responsible way to pay for public transportation projects before Congress authorizes them. Yes, even Rep. Rostenkowski (D-IL) realized government must have a way to pay for things before committing taxpayers to government projects. ACU opposes removing an imperative, decades-old safeguard that has protected taxpayers from wasteful and out-of-control government spending and believes the fact that Republicans also voted for this measure demonstrates the country truly has a bipartisan spending problem. (The underlying bill was signed into law without this fiscally responsible measure.)
2019-12-19	Authorizing an Irresponsible $540 Billion Spending Package [HR1865]	Agreed To (71-23)
This bill is one of two "minibus" appropriations bills passed at the end of the session. This particular minibus appropriates roughly $540 billion in spending and includes countless irresponsible and wasteful spending provisions. For example, the bill (which includes appropriations for Labor-Health, Agriculture, Energy and Water, Interior and Environment, Legislative Branch, Military Construction, State and Foreign Affairs, and THUD) reauthorizes both the crony Export-Import Bank for seven years and the National Flood Insurance Program without reforms through 2020. Additionally, the bill busts discretionary spending caps by $170 billion and contains a laundry list of special interest subsidies and carve-outs to unions. Furthermore, the bill infringes individual liberties of adults by raising the age to use tobacco and nicotine products from 18 to 21. ACU opposes this outrageous spending and unabashed cronyism and believes tobacco and nicotine usage is a personal liberty issue.

Represents a "Yes" vote.   Represents a "No" vote.   Indicates that this member voted against the conservative position on a particular vote. "No vote" means that this member did not cast a vote (or voted 'Present' instead of Yes or No).