In a statement likely to anger leaders in his own party, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Wednesday he doesn't trust Republicans any more than Democrats to do the right thing in budget negotiations unless House and Senate conferees are absolutely prohibited from raising taxes or the national debt limit, reports
The Huffington Post.
"Let me be clear. I don't trust the Republicans and I don't trust the Democrats. And I think a whole lot of Americans likewise don't trust the Republicans and the Democrats because it is leadership in both parties that has gotten us in this mess," Cruz said on the Senate floor.
He was responding to comments from fellow GOP Sens. John McCain and Susan Collins, who suggested on Tuesday that Cruz and other tea party senators were trying to block a budget conference with the House. McCain and Collins suggested that tea party lawmakers' opposition to moving forward with a conference committee without preconditions was tantamount to a distrust of members of their own party.
McCain called their behavior "bizarre."