"Translation: Cruz shouldn't expect any more help from the House"

And then there’s the House. Since it is the only chamber under GOP control, the Cruz-Lee scenario looks to the House to keep things moving in the event Senate Republicans temporarily stop the Obamacare defunding measure. Specifically, if the defunding continuing resolution is stuck in the Senate, “then the house should pass smaller CRs one at a time, starting with the military,” Cruz wrote Monday, to keep the government going.

Advertisement

Not so fast, say some House Republicans. “The ball is in the Senate Republicans’ court right now,” says one plugged-in House GOP aide. “Because if they do not succeed, there is no imaginable situation where Congress can pick and choose which parts of the government are open or closed.”

Translation: Cruz shouldn’t expect any more help from the House, especially since some House Republicans suspect Cruz plans to blame them if — or when — the whole scheme collapses. Whatever happens, it seems unlikely House Republicans would jump again simply on Cruz’s urging. If a filibuster ties up a government funding measure past Oct. 1, there will be no cavalry to save the day.

However the situation plays out, the defunding fight has sown bitterness and resentment among GOP lawmakers. Republican senators — all of whom would defund Obamacare if they could — believe Cruz and Lee have raised the hopes and expectations of millions of conservatives for something that can’t be done, given Democratic control of the Senate. That, those senators believe, will lead to more division and cynicism among the conservative Republicans who make up the most activist segment of the party’s base. And that is a lose-lose scenario.

Advertisement

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement