Republican Rep. Peter King (N.Y) has had it with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
King, one of the most outspoken House critics of the GOP's efforts to defund ObamaCare through the government funding battle, blasted the idea as a "terrible policy" and a "disaster" in an interview Tuesday on Fox News. And he called Cruz out by name, accusing him of splintering the party.
"Ted Cruz is to blame," King said. "And those in the House who stand with him have brought about this train wreck."
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Cruz and Tea Party-aligned Republicans pushed the GOP House leadership to embrace the defund position. But as the fight wore on, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) lost control of the moderate wing of the party, allowing an emerging GOP civil war to take center stage in the debate.
Centrist Republicans, fearing the party had strayed too far to the right, began openly rebelling and pushing for Boehner to hold a vote on a clean budget bill that could pass in the Senate. A rumored last-minute moderate revolt on Monday fizzled, but with the government now closed, those same moderates are ramping up the pressure.
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