Cruz doubles down on McConnell resignation call, says border bill gave every Democrats 'self-righteous' cover

 Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas reiterated his call for new leadership in the upper House GOP caucus on Tuesday, saying the Senate's crafting of its border bill has been a disaster from the start.

Cruz told Fox News that by calculating the amount of illegal immigrants allowed per day through the legislation it would allow Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and other GOP supporters to be comfortable with a Portrays. The sheer proportionality of President Biden's current border crisis figures.

"It's been a disaster on policy. And it's been a disaster on politics. On policy, this bill is terrible. It's an absolute. It's a bill that didn't do what Chuck Schumer wanted to secure the border And not just he said, "Secure the border. This is designed to make it worse."

Cruz said the bill, drafted by Lankford and Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., "codifies" Biden's tendency to allow a porous border and up to 5,000 illegal immigrants per day. Makes it "normal".

He said, "That works out to 1.8 million per year. That works out to about 6 million illegal immigrants over three years of Biden... So the stupid Republican proposal was that Biden allow two-thirds of the invasions at the border."

On "Hannity" Cruz reiterated his view that McConnell may need to be replaced at the top of GOP leadership.

McConnell, who had recently appeared to concede defeat on the legislation, shrugged when asked by reporters about Cruz saying "I think it's time for him to step down": "I think "That we can all agree that Senator Cruz is not a fan [of mine]."

At the press conference where Cruz made his opening remarks, he claimed that other senators around him at the time were supportive of a leadership change.

Cruz said he was particularly troubled by a provision of the limits bill that would direct lawsuits against the law to be filed in the decidedly liberal District of Columbia rather than Texas as has recently been the case.

"Who won this fight? His name is Charles Schumer – Chuck Schumer did it. He knew it would fail. He wanted it to fail."

Cruz claimed that Democratic leadership would be happy for the bill to be torpedoed because it provides political cover to lawmakers facing re-election in November:

"The purpose of this bill was to allow every Democrat running for the Senate and every Democrat running for the House to stand up and smugly say, 'I wanted to secure the border'... but that means that "The Republicans won't let me do that." he argued.

Cruz said that, in contrast, the real example of the Democrats' position on border security was illegal immigrant Jhoan Boada, who did a double take after being released without bail following an alleged assault on NYPD officers.

As for Republicans' failed effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, upcoming special elections to fill Republican vacancies could mean the inevitable has been delayed, host Sean Hannity said.

California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom scheduled a special election for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's right-leaning Bakersfield seat in mid-May, and former Rep. Bill Johnson's seat along the Ohio River in the Buckeye State is scheduled to be filled June 11.

Former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. After being expelled late last year, his seat will remain vacant for only one more week until a special election is held on Long Island.

Former New York Rep. Brian Higgins, a Democrat, resigned last week and his Buffalo-area seat has not yet been given a special election date.

Hannity said he is optimistic that the results of the special elections and the recall of Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., – the only congressman who was unable to vote; Absent for health reasons – will have a different outcome on the next impeachment attempt.

He said Rep. Blake Moore of Utah, who is vice chair of the House Republican Conference, was recorded as a "no" vote — but only because that bylaw prohibits him from re-introducing the resolution as a member of the leadership. Will allow.

"Republicans will have a chance to win a strong majority. Hopefully they will," he said.