Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told reporters after a town hall in his home state Monday he fears Democrats are angling for a government shutdown to appease radical left constituents.
"You know, I very much hope we don't have a shutdown," as Congress faces an April 28 deadline to pass a spending bill, The Texas Tribune quoted Cruz. "I will say I'm concerned. I think [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer and the Democrats want a shutdown."
The "radical left" is demanding Senate Democrats "oppose everything," Cruz said, and "engage in across-the-board obstruction."
He said he does have "some concern that to appease the radical left, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats may do everything they can to try to provoke a shutdown."
Cruz himself drew fire from within his own party when he took a leading role in the 2013 government shutdown that tried unsuccessfully to stop the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.
The effort failed after 16 days of President Barack Obama turning away tourists from such sites as Mount Rushmore and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Though the freshman senator's political career appeared severely damaged, Cruz managed to hold out the longest in the 2016 Republican presidential primary against eventual winner Donald Trump.
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