Sen. Ted Cruz says GOP leadership on Capitol Hill is so weak that Harry Reid actually controls the Republican Senate, while Nancy Pelosi is in charge of the Republican House.
"The position of Republican leadership boils down to this: They will support 100 percent of the priorities of Democrats," Cruz, a Texas Republican and GOP presidential candidate, told reporters in Washington,
CNN reports.
"Today, the leader in the Senate is [Minority Leader] Harry Reid because Republican leadership has said nothing will pass without Harry Reid's support. Today, the leader of the House is [Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi."
Cruz made his charge after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a resolution to temporarily fund the federal government — a scenario he opposes.
On Tuesday, McConnell proposed funding the government through Dec. 11 — legislation that would stop the funding of Planned Parenthood.
But Senate Democrats are expected to filibuster that plan on Thursday, after Pope Francis speaks before a joint session of Congress, CNN reports.
McConnell would then propose a clean funding bill with no defunding restrictions to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1.
Cruz, whose opposition to the Affordable Care Act led to a highly-unpopular government shutdown in October 2013, hasn't said if he'll try for another one.
Republican leaders of the House and Senate insist they won't shut the government down over Planned Parenthood.
Earlier this week, Rep. Diane Black, who's led efforts to defund Planned Parenthood in the wake of videos allegedly showing discussions about the sale of aborted fetuses,
told Newsmax TV that Democrats are tricking women into believing all female health services will be ended.
"The other side can't defend what's on these videos and so what they try to do is to confuse the subject," Black, a Tennessee Republican and registered nurse, said Monday to Dennis Michael Lynch, guest host of "The Steve Malzberg Show."
"And it does not at all take one single dime away from their health services. As a matter of fact, we add an additional $235 million to the coffers so that services … [not] provided by Planned Parenthood would actually be taken up."
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