A group of Republican senators spoke with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday night, which was peppered with some zingers from Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), who took potshots at the current faces of the Democratic Party, namely Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), which we noted yesterday. Yet, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) also issued a warning and outlined the numerous action items that must get through this budget reconciliation process, which hit a speed bump when Speaker Mike Johnson yanked the vote amid a reported conservative rebellion.
This process was going to be difficult, and it’s not unexpected that some House conservatives are not pleased with the Senate framework; they’ve only railed about it since the start of this session. Some House Republicans are not keen on the spending levels or think the cuts aren’t deep enough. The reconciliation process would be long, bloody, and fraught with danger. It’s why we couldn’t cave on a 30-day continuing resolution when the Democrats failed to pull that caper not so long ago to keep the government funded.
Cruz used a familiar phrase known to all, especially if you’ve seen Apollo 13: “failure is not an option.”
"Look, failure is not an option. You look at the election in November, it is as clear a mandate as we've ever seen from the American people," Cruz said this week.
The legislative red meat of the Trump agenda is embedded within the pages of this big, beautiful bill. We can’t gamble post-midterms, where historically the party controlling the White House loses seats in Congress. It must be done, and the Texas Republican elaborated extensively on that, noting that Americans are facing a $4 trillion tax increase if nothing is done.
Build the wall. Lower energy costs. Rebuild the military. Extend President Trump’s tax cuts.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 9, 2025
We are going to get it done. pic.twitter.com/mUnedhyVEq
Number one, the mandate secure the border. That is the single clearest mandate out of this election. 12 million people invaded this country. The American people said, Enough is enough. And I got to say, by the way, my favorite line from the President's State of the Union address is when he pointed out, he said, you know, Joe, Joe Biden stood up here a year ago and said he couldn't secure the border without new legislation. Well, it turns out we didn't need new legislation. We just needed a new president. We've seen illegal border crossings drop 98% that's delivering on results, but now it's our job to come and provide the funding to build the wall, to put in technology, to put in border patrol, to put in ice, to make sure that we keep our families safe and secure.
When it comes to energy, the American people are fed up with high energy costs. We want America to lead the world in energy when it comes to rebuilding the military, you're right. It is a dangerous, dangerous world.
And when it comes to the tax cuts, we're going to extend the tax cuts, it's going to be bumpy. It's always bumpy, and particularly with the House, which has an excruciatingly small majority, but we will get the job done, because the alternative, if we do nothing, is an automatic $4 trillion tax increase. We're not going to let that happen, because if we do, we'll be failing in our jobs. That is not acceptable. We'll get the job done.
On tariffs:
Make a deal, and then take the deal.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 9, 2025
The reciprocal lowering of tariffs at home and abroad would be a huge win for President Trump, Texas, and America. pic.twitter.com/LUCo5zZCI1
Make the deal, make deals, and actually work to lower tariffs. Look, we're at a fork in the road, and it's a real or reciprocal. Lower tariffs on both sides. Reciprocal, I'm saying reciprocal, but here's the fork in the road. What do you do once you announce these tariffs last week? One option, and the option that I hope and pray the President takes, is you've got countries beating a path to the White House saying, Uncle, let us up.
We'll slash our tariffs. We'll slash our barriers to trade in exchange for you doing it. If the outcome of these tariffs announced last week is in 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, we see tariffs slashed worldwide. We see the barriers to us, farmers and ranchers and manufacturers dropping enormously, and suddenly we're able to access other markets, and these tariffs drop here.
That's a great outcome. President Trump has the opportunity for the most extraordinary economic win for the American people right now …
Making the Trump tax cuts, securing the border, and finishing the wall are absolute musts, the top domestic priorities for the Trump White House. Congressional Republicans must be perfect to execute this legislative move, but the benefits could be massive.
Sen. Cruz did warn that tariffs shouldn’t be a permanent economic fixture, but more of a negotiating tactic, a trade smart bomb if you will, to rehash new agreements when trade deals get out of whack.
“I do want to give a word of warning,” said Cruz. “There are voices in the administration that, rather than take a deal, are saying, we want to have tariffs as a long-term, permanent feature of the economy. I think that'd be a mistake.”
Keep calm, carry on, and do not fail. Some lofty goals for sure, but the meat of this bill is something that the entire party agrees on, with some annoying people focusing on the minutiae that have, for generations, provided the political escape hatch for some folks to bog down bills, put on performances, and do nothing.
As Cruz noted, that cannot happen. This will get done, and for those thinking about causing trouble, you don’t want that phone call from Trump.
Sen. @TedCruz: "President Trump is situated to have one of the most INCREDIBLE economic victories for the American people and the American workers we've EVER seen." 🔥pic.twitter.com/xT0MDFLUYZ
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 10, 2025
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