Ted Cruz
Nationalist
Republican
Senator
Texas
Current Position: Senator from Texas
Policy Positions
Economic Policy
- For privatizing Social Security; supports personal accounts for younger workers while maintaining benefits for seniors
- For flat tax system; supports eliminating IRS, death tax, and payroll taxes, opposes higher taxes on wealthy
- Against stimulus spending; opposes government bailouts, supports balanced budget amendment and spending cuts
- For expanding military; supports increasing armed forces to 1.4 million troops and robust defense spending
Health Care
- Against ObamaCare; led efforts to defund and repeal the Affordable Care Act, supported 2013 government shutdown to oppose it
Education
- For school choice and vouchers; calls private school vouchers civil rights issue, supports abolishing Department of Education
Environment
- Against environmental regulations; opposes EPA regulatory overreach, supports increased oil drilling and opposes Paris Climate Accord
Civil Rights
- Against abortion rights; opposes exceptions for rape or incest, supports defunding Planned Parenthood, bans taxpayer funding of abortion and partial birth abortion
- Against same-sex marriage; supports constitutional amendment defining marriage as between man and woman, opposes Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage
Voting Rights & Democracy
- Against certifying 2020 presidential election results; objected to Electoral College votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania based on fraud allegations
Immigration & Foreign Affairs
- Against pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants; opposes amnesty, supports building border wall and tripling Border Patrol size
- For strong support of Israel; stated intention to be 'leading defender of Israel in United States Senate', supports moving embassy to Jerusalem
Public Safety
- For expanded gun rights; led fight against assault weapon bans, opposes high-capacity magazine restrictions, supports concealed carry reciprocity across states
- For death penalty; supports capital punishment for child rapists and killing police officers, opposes last-minute appeals with one week deadline
- Against marijuana legalization; personally opposed but supports states' rights to decide