Cruz Distorts Nominees’ Defund Police Positions

Sen. Ted Cruz has falsely tried to label “every single” Senate Democrat as “supporting abolishing the police,” based on a misleading interpretation of the words of two of President Joe Biden’s nominees.

Both nominees said in confirmation hearings that they do not support defunding the police, though both have made comments in the past supportive of redirecting some police funding for social programs — such as for mental health and drug intervention — with the intent to reduce the need for police intervention. Neither candidate has advocated for “abolishing the police,” as Cruz put it repeatedly.

Biden’s nominee to be associate attorney general, Vanita Gupta, was confirmed by the Senate by a 51-49 vote on April 21. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican to vote for her. The Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked along partisan lines in a May 13 vote on Kristen Clarke, who was tapped by Biden to lead the civil rights division at the U.S. Department of Justice. Under Senate rules, a simple majority of the Democratic-controlled Senate can bring her nomination to the Senate floor for a vote.

Cruz raised the issue of police funding during a on gun violence on May 11. Pushing back against to “stop the proliferation” of homemade “ghost guns,” Cruz