As the partial government shutdown drags on, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has been spotted taking yet another ill-timed jaunt to a sunny locale — this time, the spring break hotspot of Fort Lauderdale, Florida — TMZ reports.
A fellow traveler spotted Cruz at the Fort Lauderdale airport Tuesday as Congress remains at an impasse over funding the Department of Homeland Security. The shutdown has left Transportation Security Administration agents without pay, causing many to walk out, resulting in hours-long waits at some of the nation’s busiest airports.
Those long security lines haven’t been a problem for members of Congress, though, since they often get VIP treatment at airports and are waived through TSA lines without having their baggage x-rayed and their genitals groped.
Indeed, one photo of Cruz obtained by TMZ shows the senator surrounded by as many as four law enforcement officers while he waited for a flight at an airport gate.
Since Congress went on a two-week recess, Cruz has also been spotted in his hometown of Houston and the CPAC conservative conference in Dallas, according to news reports.
Cruz’s travel plans come under frequent scrutiny ever since he grabbed international headlines in 2021 by flying his family to balmy Cancun while Winter Storm Uri gripped his home state, killing 200 or so of his constituents and leaving millions without power.
Since that gaffe, the senator also has been spotted taking a trip to Greece during last summer’s deadly Texas floods, and he was called out earlier this year for boarding a flight to Southern California as another winter storm barreled toward the Lone Star State.
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