White House credits Cruz’s ‘shenanigans’ for nominee confirmations

Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) “shenanigans” appear to have created a window for some of President Obama’s nominees to be confirmed, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday.

{mosads}”I do understand, based on the news reports that I’ve read, that some of the shenanigans that he carried out on the Senate floor did create an opening and additional time for these highly qualified nominees to be confirmed,” Earnest said. “And if that’s the case, then it may be an indication that Senator Cruz doesn’t know much more about Senate floor procedure than I do.”

Cruz objected to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) attempt Friday evening to proceed quickly to vote on the $1.1 trillion spending package that had passed the House, in a move intended to protest the president’s executive action on immigration.

Reid responded by moving forward with two dozen of the president’s judicial and executive nominees, starting the clock on confirmation votes that might otherwise have been abandoned in the lame-duck session.

The White House spokesman added that administration officials “certainly are pleased” with the outcome, which saw the confirmation of Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who faced Republican opposition. Another controversial Obama nominee, Tony Blinken, is expected to be confirmed later Tuesday.

Cruz spokeswoman Amanda Carpenter dismissed criticism on Monday, saying the maneuver didn’t ultimately change what was going to happen.

“The fact that Harry Reid called up Murthy right away on Monday proves this vote was going to happen with or without Cruz’s amnesty vote,” Carpenter tweeted.

–This report was updated at 3:24 p.m.