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Senate observers say they sawTed Cruzchecking his Twitter mentions earlier this week between fiery exchanges during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee JudgeKetanji Brown Jackson.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin resorted to banging his gavel during one heated moment on Wednesday with Cruz, who repeatedly interrupted Jackson as he questioned her about her past sentencing decisions in child pornography cases.
“You’re not recognized, senator,” Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, said to the Texas Republican as he pushed Jackson to respond to his question, according to video of the hearings thatNBC News posted on YouTube.
“You don’t want her to answer that question?” Cruz, 51, asked.
“Because you’ve interrupted me for two minutes, Mr. Chairman. Will you allow her to answer the question, or do you not want the American people to hear why, with someone she described as an egregious— " Cruz said before Durbin tried to speak.
“Chairman Durbin, will you allow her to answer the question?” Cruz pushed.
“You won’t allow her to answer the question,” he said.
“Please, senator,” Durbin said, attempting to redirect to another senator, Chris Coons of Delaware, to begin his turn to question Jackson.
But Cruz argued it was improper to make him cede. “I’ve never seen the chairman refuse to allow a witness to answer questions,” he said, prompting Durbin to wield the gavel again. “You can bang it as loud as you want,” Cruz said.
“At some point you have to follow the rules,” Durbin told him.
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Each senator on the committee was allowed 30 minutes of questions on Tuesday and 20 minutes on Wednesday, following opening statements on Monday,according toPolitico.
After aLos Angeles Timescongressional reporterwrote on Twitter, “Ted Cruz looks like he’s checking his mentions after his back and forths with KBJ and Durbin,” his colleague, an L.A.Timesphotojournalists, replied, saying, “Can confirm this.”
“He was searching twitter for his name,“Kent Nishimura tweeted, including a photo of Cruz peering at the illuminated screen on his phone. “This was right after his exchange with Chairman Durbin.”
Cruz’s office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Later in the hearings, Cruz and Durbin were at it again.
Between Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley’s questions to Jackson — including, again, on child pornography cases — and Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono’s turn, the Texas Republican requested a letter to the chairman be added to the record.
As Cruz insisted on submitting the letter — which demanded the release of probation reports in child pornography cases Jackson handled, according toPolitico— and Hirono asked, “May I proceed?” with a roll of her eyes, Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, stepped in, according to video from the hearings.
“I waited my turn here and I’ve been on this committee for 47 years. I think we ought to follow the regular order,” Leahy, 81, said.
When Cruz interrupted again and urged the chairman to consent to submitting the letter, Leahy again stepped in.
“I know the junior senator from Texas likes to get on television, but most of us have been here a longtime trying to follow the rules,” Leahy said, adding that Cruz could have handed over the letter. “He said he’s doing this to help Sen. Hawley — Sen. Hawley could have put it in but he didn’t.”
source: people.com
