If Mr. Cruz had not filibustered, the increased debt ceiling could have been passed by the Senate with only Democratic votes – a result many Republicans want. But he did not apologize, even as many of his colleagues ranted that he single-handedly forced his own leaders to win perhaps the toughest vote of this election season.
“It should have been a very easy vote,” said Cruz. “In my opinion, every Republican in the Senate should have stood together and said what each of us is telling our constituents at home, which is that we will not agree to raise the debt ceiling without doing anything to resolve the problem. underlying problem of spending. “
After the vote, Mr McCain joked that he was only talking about the stormy winter weather.
“I have never been good at twisting my arms, which is one of the many reasons I have never been President of the United States,” he said. But he added praise to Mr McConnell: “Seriously, he knows he is the leader – he is the elected Republican leader – and that it was up to him to vote correctly,” Mr McCain said.
President Obama, the winner of the showdown, has promised to sign the increase in the debt ceiling.
“We are pleased to hear that Congress has acted to live up to its responsibility” by lifting the debt ceiling, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said in a statement. He said the action “will bring certainty and stability to businesses and financial markets.”
For Republican leaders, the debt ceiling showdown gave them a chance to reenact government shutdown – but with a different ending. Then as now, outside conservative groups and their Tea Party allies in Congress lobbied for confrontation, but with no clear path to avert political disaster. This time, Republican leaders have not taken the bait.
“We can put the country through two weeks of unrest or we can put this behind us,” Corker said. “The point is that the House could only pass a clean debt ceiling. We knew what the outcome would be. “
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