Sen. Ted Cruz defends his ‘no’ vote on disaster relief funds for Sandy in light of damage from Tropical Storm Harvey

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was among a group of Republicans who voted against a $50.5-billion relief package for victims of 2012’s Superstorm Sandy when it came before them in January 2013. The measure passed anyway.

Now that his own state is likely to need a federal relief package totaling $40 billion or more due to a storm still pummeling the Gulf Coast around Houston, critics are calling out Cruz for what they say is hypocrisy for his decision to oppose Sandy relief while presumably supporting it now for Texas.

In an interview with NBC’s Katy Tur, Cruz defended his vote, saying the Sandy relief bill was filled with “unrelated pork.”

“Two-thirds of that bill had nothing to do with Sandy. And what I said then, and still believe now, is that it’s not right for politicians to exploit a disaster when people are hurting to pay for their own political wishlist,” he said.

Lawmakers from the New York-New Jersey region, which sustained the heaviest damage from Sandy, have signaled that they won’t let their anger over Cruz’s and other Republicans’ opposition to Sandy aid cloud their decision on Harvey relief.

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