Sen. Cruz Discusses Biden’s Controversial Cabinet Nominees and Texas’ Recovery Following Historic Storms

WASHINGTON, D.C - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) this week appeared on Fox News' ‘Hannity', the ‘Ruthless' podcast, and ‘The Dana Loesch Show' to talk about President Biden's cabinet nominees, his call for an investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo's COVID-19 cover-up, and Texas' recovery efforts in the wake of historic winter storms. Highlights of his interviews are below.

WATCH: Cruz on Fox Blasts Dems for Politicizing Winter Storm Uri to Promote Radical Green New Deal Policies

On President Biden's nominee for Attorney General, Judge Merrick Garland, who he questioned at his Senate Judiciary hearing yesterday, Sen. Cruz said:

"The hearing was frustrating as it went on today because he basically dodged every question - he refused to answer. He answered like a judicial nominee and not like a nominee to be Attorney General. So he wouldn't answer whether he would fire Durham. He wouldn't make any commitment at all. [...] He just said, ‘Well, I don't know anything about it.' He was also asked, will the Department of Justice continue to process people illegally crossing the border? He wouldn't make that commitment. He said, ‘I don't know.' I asked him, will the Department of Justice seek to overturn the Heller decision and essentially repeal the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms again? He said, ‘Well, I can't make any commitment on that'. It was a really disappointing performance in total because he wouldn't be candid." (Sen. Cruz, Fox News' ‘Hannity,' 2/22/21)

"Garland has much more of a reputation for being nonpartisan. Now, I mean, a lot of my questioning focused on, look, for eight years of the Obama administration, the DOJ was ruthlessly partisan. Are you going to be able to stand up and stop that? You know, whether it was the IRS targeting conservatives, whether it was Operation Choke Point, trying to shut down gun sellers, or whether it was Crossfire Hurricane targeting Republicans and going after them, Garland at least said he would stand up and fight against that. Now, I don't know that I believe that necessarily. I think there's going to be enormous pressure. [...] And I don't know how confident I am that Garland is going to be able to, or even necessarily want to, rein them in. But I'm hoping the commitments he's making today, we can at least hold him accountable." (Sen. Cruz, ‘Ruthless,' 2/23/21)

LISTEN: Cruz Talks Winter Storm Uri, the Future of the Republican Party & Neera Tanden on Ruthless

On President Biden's nominee for Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, Sen. Cruz said:

"The Biden administration likes to talk about how they're science based and their priority is stopping COVID. Well, Xavier Becerra has been nominated to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services. He's not a doctor. He has no scientific background. He has no background in virology. He's never worked in a pharmaceutical company. He's got nothing to do with healthcare. But what he is is a trial lawyer. And his only experience, as far as I can tell, with healthcare, is he sued the Little Sisters of the Poor. And if a Republican nominated a trial lawyer to lead the Health and Human Services Department in the midst of a global pandemic, they'd be laughed out of the room because it would be absurd. And yet the Biden administration's focus is on paying off the liberal special interests, not on being based on the science and defeating the pandemic." (Sen. Cruz, Fox News' ‘Hannity,' 2/22/21)

On President Biden's controversial nominee for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Neera Tanden, Sen. Cruz said:

"We were on a path for Joe Biden to be the first president since Ronald Reagan to get every one of his cabinet nominees appointed, which didn't make a whole lot of sense in a 50-50 Senate. You know, with Manchin coming out against her, it's clearly on the rocks. [...] She is an active Twitter warrior. I know Rob Portman held up a stack of, ‘I've got nine pages of tweets about Ted Cruz.' [...] I don't think I've ever seen a tweet she sent about me, if she sent nine pages, she needs to get a little more effective." (Sen. Cruz, ‘Ruthless,' 2/23/21)

On his call to investigate Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) for miscounting COVID-19 related deaths in New York nursing homes, Sen. Cruz said:

"I think the conduct of Andrew Cuomo's administration is deeply concerning. [...] They had a policy at the beginning of the COVID pandemic that made very little sense, where they sent COVID-positive patients into nursing homes, and it resulted in thousands or even tens-of-thousands of deaths. And thankfully, most other states didn't follow that policy. And we recognize that people in nursing homes, very elderly people, are among the most vulnerable to COVID, and sending people who are COVID-positive into those populations doesn't make any sense. This is a point I've been making for months. [...] The Cuomo administration, now, his aides have admitted that they were actively lying about these policies. And so I've called for a Department of Justice investigation because lying to cover up policy mistakes that may have cost thousands or even tens-of-thousands of lives, that's deadly serious. So, of course, the mainstream media doesn't want to cover it at all." (Sen. Cruz, ‘The Dana Loesch Show,' 2/22/21)

READ: Sen. Cruz Leads Call for Investigation Into Gov. Cuomo's COVID-19 Cover-Up

WATCH: Cruz on the Dana Loesch Show Discusses Winter Storm Uri, Texas Energy, & Gov. Andrew Cuomo

On the energy crisis in Texas from the historic winter storms, Sen. Cruz said:

"The Texas energy grid collapsed. That is unacceptable. [...] I'm a big believer when it comes to energy it's all of the above, that we ought to be pursuing all of the different energy sources we have. I don't think we should have government mandates. I don't think we should have government subsidies. There's no doubt the federal government mandates played a big part in the role that wind and solar play. [...] Texas is the number one producer of wind energy in the entire country. [...] But here's one of the problems with wind and solar in particular, which is that they have not proven to be consistent and steady and reliable." (Sen. Cruz, ‘The Dana Loesch Show,' 2/22/21)

"In the wintertime, wind drops to about 10 to 12 percent of our energy needs. And one of the problems we saw is that on Monday night when the first storm hit, that dropped to two percent as the wind turbines froze. [...] The snow, and ice, and the solar panels dramatically reduced the ability of solar panels to generate electricity. There were also problems with both coal and natural gas production. [...] You look at what the Green New Deal wants, and it wants us to shift 100 percent to wind and solar and renewables. Well, when you see something dropping from 25 percent peak capacity to two percent, that doesn't give you a whole lot of comfort that you're going to have reliable energy in a snowstorm or other natural disaster. [...] We also need to look at all of the different forms and how can you harden the grid to make sure that it's consistent and reliable. [...] And one of the virtues of Texas not being in the national grid is it's going to be Texans making these decisions, and we're going to be debating it without the feds getting in the middle of it." (Sen. Cruz, ‘Ruthless,' 2/23/21)

"There needs to be a cost benefit analysis. Should we do more to strengthen resiliency in the grid? Absolutely. But it needs to also value keeping costs low and prices low for consumers. And there are a bunch of folks in the media, a bunch of folks that are Democrats, that want to use this as an excuse to basically federalize the Texas energy grid and to drive costs through the ceiling. I think that would be a bad mistake. We've got to balance. And Texans want an affordable cost of living so that we can provide for our families." (Sen. Cruz, ‘The Dana Loesch Show,' 2/22/21)

On the future of the Republican Party, Sen. Cruz said:

"I do think if you look at the impact of Trump, look, as a party we are all debating what's the post-Trump Republican Party like? I think there's some folks in Washington that want to just go back to the status quo, and go back to pre-Trump - pretend it never happened. [...] ‘Let's go back to business as usual.' I don't think that's going to happen. I don't think that's where the country is. I don't think that's where the party is. And I think the biggest shift that Trump represented that is really important is, I think the Republican Party is a blue collar party. We're the party of the working class, and the Democrats are the party of the wealthy coastal elites, and that you know how that shakes out. That's a big shift. [...] So, I do think going forward, we are, and should be, the party of jobs and the blue collar, and the working class. We need to be effective. We need to be willing to fight. We need to be willing to stand up to cancel culture." (Sen. Cruz, ‘Ruthless,' 2/23/21)

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