McConnell and Reid gain from Cruz's anti-amnesty gambit

Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are both using Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to cement control of their respective conferences as the 113th Senate grinds to a close…

McConnell watched Republican senators rain down abuse on Cruz after he got caught in the Reid trap.

“Unfortunate,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). 

“Counterproductive,” said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who argued that without Cruz’s move, Vivek Murthy, whose nomination was opposed by the National Rifle Association, would not have won confirmation as surgeon general.

GOP Sens. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) and Rob Portman (Ohio), who had left Washington to attend his uncle’s funeral, both had to fly back to the capital, and Portman missed some of Saturday’s procedural votes.

“I think we all saw that this place is a lot more complicated and for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction,” said Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn (Texas), adding that he hoped his colleagues would learn that creating divisions in the conference hurts the party’s objectives.