Former Daily Show host Jon Stewartblasted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and other Republicans for stalling bipartisan legislation that would have helped veterans who were exposed to burn pits in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars.
“This is no trick,” he said in a video message posted to Twitter. “Everything in the government is either mandatory or discretionary spending, depending on which bucket they decide to put it in … [Cruz] is pretending that this is a new thing that the Democrats stuck into the bill and snuck past him.”
“The bill that Ted Cruz voted yes on had the exact same funding provisions as the bill he voted no on,” Stewart added during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press. “It’s the exact same bill. None of this makes any sense.”
In an interview, Cruz accused the Democrats of trying to pull a budgetary trick by moving $400 billion from discretionary to mandatory spending, which Republicans say would allow them to spend the money on causes other than helping veterans. Twenty-five Senate Republicans changed their mind after a June vote would have passed the bill, titled the PACT Act, in the House and the Senate if it had not needed to go back for rewording on a tax provision.
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania), who also voted no in June, led the GOP opposition to the bill.
The bill will return to the Senate floor on Monday, according to Senate Majority LeaderChuck Schumer (D-New York). If passed, it will expand health care access to those exposed to toxic chemicals resulting in suffering, including from terminal illnesses.
