A government shutdown was averted Thursday. The Senate passed the House budget bill on a vote of 79 to 18. All Democrats, both Independents, and a majority of Republicans voted to pass the bill.
But 18 Republicans disagreed. They voted against the bill to fund the government through September. That means they voted to shut down the government -- since no replacement bill could have been passed in time to prevent the shut down, if they had prevailed).
The Republicans who voted to shut down the government are: Corker (Tennessee), Cotton (Arkansas), Crapo (Idaho), Cruz (Texas), Daines (Montana), Ernst (Iowa), Fischer (Nebraska), Flake (Arizona), Graham (South Carolina), Grassley (Iowa), Heller (Nevada), Kennedy (Louisiana), Lee (Utah), Paul (Kentucky), Risch (Idaho), Scott (South Carolina), Strange (Alabama), and Toomey (Pennsylvania).
Ted Cruz of Texas once again shows his love of ideology over doing what's best for the country. He was largely responsible for the last government shutdown -- and once again voted to shut it down. Cruz is up for re-election in 2018, and the Texas voters need to remember this. He simply doesn't have their best interests in mind, and needs to be booted out of office.