Ted Cruz's wildfire relief reversal sparks accusations of hypocrisy

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is facing a potentially difficult reelection campaign, is reversing course on his opposition to disaster relief funds.

On May 3, Cruz co-introduced the Livestock Indemnity Program Enhancement Act, a bill that would provide financial compensation to farmers who lost unborn livestock as a result of the 2024 wildfires in the Texas panhandle. The fires, which burned between Feb. 26 and March 16, covered more than 1 million acres and killed more than 15,000 cattle. It was the second largest wildfire in U.S. history.

“This will give Texas cattle producers the relief they need to build back their herds and restore this pillar of Texas agriculture,” Cruz said. 

The push is a departure for Cruz who has repeatedly voted against disaster relief aid, including funding for wildfire response and prevention.

On March 8, when the panhandle fires were still raging, Cruz voted against the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024. The legislation provided more than $383 million for wildfire suppression efforts at the Department of the Interior and more than $1 billion for wildfire suppression efforts at the Department of Agriculture. The bill set aside an additional $2.6 billion to be used if the wildfire management funds proved insufficient.

Despite Cruz and 21 other Republicans opposing the bill, it ultimately passed and was signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 9.

Cruz voted against an appropriations bill in September 2022 that provided $2.5 billion in disaster relief for a wildfire in New Mexico. The fire destroyed several hundred homes and damaged at least 85 more. The bill also provided resources to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to more quickly process compensation claims for those impacted by the disaster. The bill ultimately passed without Cruz’s support.

A year earlier, Cruz opposed the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act which set aside $28.6 billion for natural disaster relief and $10 billion specifically for farmers who lost crops as a result of wildfires.

Cruz also opposed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package, which included $5.75 billion for wildfire management, and the American Rescue Plan, which set aside $50 billion for FEMA’s disaster relief fund.

Cruz is running for a third term in the U.S. Senate this year. His opponent is Democratic Rep. Colin Allred who represents Texas’ 32nd district. A Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation poll from April showed Allred trailing Cruz by 3 points.

Allred supported all of the bills mentioned in this article.