18:00
- ABC News
- June 17, 2019
AOC and Ted Cruz: Unlikely allies
In the era of divided Congress and Trump, new bipartisan potential emerges.
18:00
Enter @tedcruz:
Here's something I don't say often: on this point, I AGREE with @AOC Indeed, I have long called for a LIFETIME BAN on former Members of Congress becoming lobbyists. The Swamp would hate it, but perhaps a chance for some bipartisan cooperation? https://t.co/jPW0xkH2Yy
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 30, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez cautiously replied, telling Cruz \"if you're serious about a clean bill, then I'm down. Let's make a deal.\"
\"If we can agree on a bill with no partisan snuck-in clauses, no poison pills, etc -- just a straight, clean ban on members of Congress becoming paid lobbyists - then I'll co-lead the bill with you,\" she tweeted.
\"You're on,\" Cruz replied.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/ted-cruz-file-gty-jef-190617_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
About 40 minutes later, Hawaii Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz tweeted, \"IN.\" Fifteen minutes later, Freshman Republican Rep. Chip Roy, who served as Cruz's chief of staff in the Senate, offered to co-sponsor the bill with Ocasio-Cortez in the lower chamber.
Voila. Bipartisanship in the era of divided Congress and President Donald Trump was born.
But who would have thought that lightning might strike twice in the same place?
A week later, on June 7, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that birth control \"should be over-the-counter,\" generating a whopping 80,000 retweets and more than 340,000 likes.
Psst! 🗣 Birth control should be over-the-counter, pass it on.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 7, 2019
Five days later, Cruz, perhaps sensing a little more liberty to freelance after being reelected to a second six-year term in the Senate last fall, sent another trial balloon:
I agree. Perhaps, in addition to the legislation we are already working on together to ban Members of Congress from becoming lobbyists, we can team up here as well. A simple, clean bill making birth control available over the counter. Interested? https://t.co/7kh3kqxN1w
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 12, 2019
That tweet from Cruz generated more than 60,000 likes and 7,500 retweets.
AOC did not respond publicly to Cruz's second offer to work together, but she confirmed her office is working with Cruz to advance their collaboration beyond their viral tweets.
\"Our teams are in communication,\" Ocasio-Cortez told ABC News' Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl during an interview Sunday on ABC's \"This Week.\"
\"We haven't met in person yet, but I do know that we have an ongoing working relationship and I'm extraordinarily excited in seeing what we can accomplish.\"
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