Inside D.C.

Cruz Flexes Muscle Just Because He Can

When the overall public approval rating for Congress is sitting south of 16%, you’d think members would go out of their way to demonstrate statesmanship and adult behavior.  However, if you’re Sen. Ted Cruz (R, TX), apparently it’s more important to mess with the system just because you can.

When the full Senate this week approved the nomination of Greg Ibach, former Nebraska agriculture commissioner, to be USDA under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs, it was expected we’d get a two-fer.  Approved long with Ibach should have been the nomination of Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey to be undersecretary for farm production and conservation.

The Northey nomination is already confused, not by anything the man has said or done, but by process.  Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s somewhat controversial reorganization of the program areas at USDA in July raised the question of Northey’s job title, as in just what sits within his under secretary-ship?

Perdue shifted the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NCRS) into the same program area as the Risk Management Agency (RMA) and the Farm Service Agency (FSA).  However, by legal allocation – and ancient job title – NCRS sits technically under the watchful eye of a different under secretary unless Congress decides otherwise. To clarify the confusion, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Pat Roberts (R, KS) and ranking panel member Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D, MI) pledged to bring a bill to clarify Northey’s job title and his job description. This means while Northey’s confirmation wasn’t in jeopardy, his job description will be somewhat limited until the job title issue is worked out, which may mean Farm Bill time.  But I digress…

Complicating the deal is the junior senator from Texas.  He put a hold on Northey’s confirmation vote this week.  Politico says Cruz’s hold is a “reaction” to actions by Sen. Charles Grassley (R, IA) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R, IA), among other Midwestern lawmakers, to get President Trump’s attention and to get Trump to publicly reaffirm his support the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) by killing off an EPA move to reduce the RFS on some biofuels.  Ernst blocked Senate committee votes on some EPA nominees to get White House and EPA’s attention.

Now Cruz is part of a group of nine Senators from oil and gas states who are seriously unhappy with how the whole RFS kerfuffle went last week, and they’re now seeking a meeting with Trump to talk RFS issues. The Senate gaggle wrote to Trump: “We request that within the next three weeks, you convene a meeting regarding the RFS and pro-jobs policies with us, our Senate colleagues who previously lobbied you on behalf of the ethanol industry and relevant members of your administration to discuss a pathway forward toward a mutually agreeable solution that will also save refining jobs and help unleash an American energy renaissance.”

At least Cruz is true to his school when it comes to federal support of biofuels.  Harken back to the 2016 presidential primary campaigns, you’ll recall Cruz won the Iowa caucuses while being openly antagonistic to all things biofuel.  So contrary was Cruz in the homeland of ethanol and biodiesel, then-GOP Gov. Terry Branstad came out swinging in the final weeks before the caucuses.

“This has nothing to do with Bill Northey, they need to get that right.  I don’t see the connection,” a very frustrated Ernst said this week.  “He’ll be in charge of conservation programs; it will have nothing to do with the RFS.  So why are they blocking him because of the RFS? Just because big oil doesn’t like it.”

Ernst’s point is well taken.  Is Cruz’s hold on Northey’s nomination a simple demonstration he could/would do it if he wanted?  If so, point taken.  However, there’s no substantive reason to delay Northey’s arrival at USDA, penalize department operations, etc., so why make a fuss, and why attack your own party?