Republican 'Old Guard' pushes back against Cruz and Lee
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The GOP "Old Guard" in the Senate Sunday pushed back against outspoken conservative critics, avoiding direct attacks on Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, but making it clear his recent renegade actions are unwelcome in the upper chamber.
Without saying a word, the Republican conference sent a powerful message to Cruz and other conservatives like Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, by not backing their efforts to add amendments to a "must-pass" highway spending bill.
"Deliberation and reasoned judgment require an atmosphere of restraint, an atmosphere of thoughtful disagreement," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who serves as the Senate pro tempore and is the longest-serving GOP lawmaker, said in a floor speech Sunday. "Deliberation without decorum is not deliberation at all. It is bickering. And bickering, Mr. President, is beneath this body."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hatch delivered much of the unofficial censure Sunday, criticizing Cruz for his Senate floor speech Friday where he accused Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of 'flat-out' lying about the highway bill.