Republicans are set to take control of the U.S. Senate on Friday, and with that change, a major Texas political figure is poised to make a bigger and more consequential footprint on Capitol Hill.
Sen. Ted Cruz is set to take over as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, a position that will give him jurisdiction over a wide swath of the U.S. economy, including telecommunications, aviation and space exploration.
Running the committee represents a chance to shift policy directions on major issues could require an approach that runs contrary to the Texas Republican’s reputation as somewhat anti-establishment, a kind of conservative firebrand.
Joseph Morton, who covers D.C. for the Dallas Morning News, said Cruz put in years on this committee before being tapped to lead it.
“He’s got 12 years of seniority now. And it is really remarkable to see the shift over time from … a self-described rabble-rouser back in the day, as a brand new freshman who was very happy to throw sand into the legislative gears here when he saw reason to do so, to try and stand on principle and achieve some of the conservative policy goals that he wanted to see,” Morton said. “And he was not shy about bucking leadership and demanding amendments that were not necessarily right on point to the legislation they were considering – and often, much to the consternation of his colleagues, even his fellow Republicans. And so now to see him stepping into this role is really something.”
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Cruz has a series of priorities for his new position, though Morton said this committee does not deal with the hardcore conservative base issues Cruz often makes headlines around.
“At the top of the list is spectrum, which is a word that a lot of folks maybe aren’t super familiar with,” he said. “But essentially we’re talking about the nation’s airwaves, what big telecommunications companies use to set up their networks that power your smartphone.
“We’re going to need much more robust networks when everybody’s cruising around in self-driving cars and wearing virtual reality glasses. And so a big part of that is opening up more commercial availability of those airwaves. And that falls in the jurisdiction of the Commerce Committee.”
The committee also has a hand in directing policy around artificial intelligence.
“He really wants to unleash the ability for companies to use that artificial intelligence technology. And he draws parallels to the 1990s that praises President Bill Clinton for keeping a hands-off approach as the Internet was coming along,” Morton said. “That runs contrary to some of the proposals out there from Democrats who would like to see a little more government regulation of that space to try and protect people from some of the potential dangers of AI.”
Cruz will also have a say in how the federal government approaches space exploration, which is a priority for Trump ally Elon Musk.
“With the big space presence in Texas and in Houston specifically, which is Ted Cruz’s home base, he’s been focused on space for a long time,” Morton said. “He wants to pass several pieces of legislation, including a commercial space bill and a reauthorization of NASA that will open up their ability to do more.
“And he sees it as a big jobs program for Texas. He talks about how tens of thousands of Texas jobs depend on those space programs.”