Ted Cruz

U.S. Senator — Texas · Chairman, Senate Commerce Committee

Raised the first objection of the joint session on January 6, 2021, against Arizona's electoral votes, and proposed that Congress appoint a commission to audit the result for ten days before certifying it. A fundraising message went out under his name while the Capitol was under attack. He was one of six senators who voted to sustain the Arizona objection and one of seven on Pennsylvania, voted against the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act in 2022, and in January 2025 voted to certify the election of the president he had objected for four years earlier. He chairs the Senate Commerce Committee and describes himself as the president's strongest ally in the Senate.

Documented conduct

Jan 7, 2022

Denied it was an insurrection

Called the attack "a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol" on the eve of its first anniversary. The following night, on the program of the broadcaster who had objected to the phrase, he called his own words "sloppy and it was frankly dumb" and withdrew them.

Source: Fox News, January 7 2022

May 28, 2021

Voted to block the independent commission on the attack

Voted against cloture on the bill to establish a National Commission on the January 6 Attack. The motion drew 54 votes to 35, short of the 60 it needed, and the independent commission was never created.

Source: U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote No. 218, 117th Cong., 1st Sess.

Feb 13, 2021

Voted to acquit at the second impeachment trial

Voted not guilty on the article charging incitement of insurrection. The vote was 57 to 43, ten short of the two thirds required to convict.

Source: U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote No. 59, 117th Cong., 1st Sess.

Receipts

01 Fox News, January 7 2022 Our copy 02 U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote No. 218, 117th Cong., 1st Sess. (May 28, 2021) Our copy 03 U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote No. 59, 117th Cong., 1st Sess. (Feb. 13, 2021) Our copy 04 167 Cong. Rec. H75–H118, S13–S36 (daily ed. Jan. 6, 2021) Our copy 05 U.S. Senate, 117th Cong., 1st Sess., Roll Call Vote No. 2 (Jan. 7, 2021) Our copy 06 U.S. Senate, 117th Cong., 1st Sess., Roll Call Vote No. 1 (Jan. 6, 2021) Our copy