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Verdict with Ted Cruz

Chaos in DC on Reconciliation & DOJ Judgment Fund plus Raul Castro Indicted

Verdict with Ted Cruz

Premiere Networks

News, Daily News, Politics, News Commentary

4.643.4K Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

1. Breakdown of Senate Disruption Over Reconciliation

Why a planned Senate vote (a “vote-a-rama” tied to reconciliation) collapsed unexpectedly.

Key points:

  • Reconciliation is described as a process used to bypass the Senate filibuster and pass major legislation (in this case, funding border security and agencies like ICE and CBP).
  • The vote was canceled due to division among Republican senators, not just opposition from Democrats.
  • Several GOP senators are described as politically frustrated or weakened due to:
    • Losing primaries or endorsements
    • Conflict with former President Trump
  • These internal tensions created a fragile majority, making it difficult to pass legislation.

2. Controversy Over the DOJ “Judgment Fund”

A newly announced $1.776 billion Department of Justice fund intended to compensate individuals allegedly harmed by government “weaponization.”

Concerns raised:

  • Republican senators reacted with anger and suspicion during a closed-door meeting with the acting Attorney General.
  • Some believed the fund looked like “self-dealing,” particularly because it stemmed from litigation involving Donald Trump.
  • There were fears that:
    • Taxpayer money could go to controversial recipients
    • Political optics would damage Republicans
  • Senators across the party were reportedly yelling and openly hostile, suggesting unusually intense internal conflict.

Impact:

  • Democrats planned to introduce amendments targeting the fund.
  • Enough Republicans were prepared to side with Democrats that the bill would likely fail.
  • Leadership postponed the vote, indicating a temporary legislative breakdown.

3. Raul Castro Indictment Discussion

  • Castro is accused in connection with the 1996 shootdown of civilian aircraft operated by “Brothers to the Rescue.”
  • Charges allegedly include:
    • Conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals
    • Murder counts
    • Destruction of aircraft
      • A major moment of justice
      • A stark contrast with past U.S. policy under President Obama (who pursued diplomatic normalization with Cuba)

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is an I-Heart podcast.

0:22.7

Guaranteed Human. Welcome, it is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. And if you're listening on the radio, it's really nice to have you with us. And as a quick reminder, what you're listening to you right now, we do is a podcast three days a week. So make sure you download for free wherever you get your podcast, Verdiq with Ted Cruz. And you can listen all week long. Senator, we got a lot to talk about, including the fact that we thought you were

0:26.2

going to be in Washington for a Vodorama that could have turned into the whole weekend.

0:30.5

That didn't happen. So what actually happened there?

0:34.1

Well, you're exactly right. It is right now 142 a.m. Friday morning.

0:39.5

So late Thursday night, early Friday morning.

0:41.6

I am in Texas.

0:42.8

I just landed back at home.

0:44.3

I'm sitting here at home in my studio here at home.

0:48.1

By the way, studio is a euphemism.

0:53.7

So, Ben, you know, you know this, but let's actually expose the fancy, like, really exotic place

1:03.1

we record this.

1:04.9

I am in the laundry room.

1:06.1

Like the washing machine and dryer are four feet behind me.

1:11.0

Yeah, he's not joking, everybody.

1:12.4

This is, I will validate this is actually reality.

1:17.2

You are doing, you're doing this show in the, in the laundry room, yes.

1:21.3

So, by the way, I used to have this thing set up in the game room.

1:26.2

We have a game room on the third floor,

1:27.8

and there's a pool table and like a big screen TV, and the kids hang out there. And then my

1:34.1

daughters threw me out of the third floor. They're like, no, we don't want all this,

1:39.1

this damn podcast equipment up here. Get it out of here. And I get relegated to the laundry room.

...

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