Verdict with Ted Cruz - November 07, 2025


Shutdown Showdown： Will Friday Bring a Government Reboot？


Episode Stats

Length

4 minutes

Words per Minute

207.03125

Word Count

901

Sentence Count

85


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.560 Guaranteed human.
00:00:05.100 Good Friday morning.
00:00:06.720 Nice to have you with us on Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz.
00:00:09.220 And if you are listening right now,
00:00:10.960 we are giving you a update of where we are and what's happening.
00:00:14.520 So, Senator, I'm in Jerusalem right now.
00:00:17.140 I am going to be flying back to the Estados Unidos in several hours.
00:00:22.280 This is all happening while the government shutdown
00:00:24.840 is being negotiated as we're recording this.
00:00:27.900 And so what we decided to do is let you know the audience
00:00:31.440 that, hey, we're seeing some movement on the government shutdown.
00:00:35.660 And as soon as I land on Friday back in America,
00:00:38.580 flying back in time,
00:00:39.980 we're going to get together and give you an update
00:00:42.200 on where we are on the actual government shutdown.
00:00:44.540 But for people that are listening right now,
00:00:46.520 let's timestamp this, Senator, so they know when we're doing this.
00:00:50.160 I'm in Thursday. Are you in Wednesday right now?
00:00:53.180 I'm in Wednesday. That's the joy of time travel.
00:00:56.180 I am finally smarter than you.
00:00:57.620 Let's just make that moment clear.
00:00:59.360 I know more than you, Senator, for the first time ever.
00:01:01.820 This feels very good.
00:01:03.080 You know, like Socrates, the one thing I know is how little I know.
00:01:06.040 So I'm happy to concede that, my friend.
00:01:08.440 So it is right now 11.22 p.m. Wednesday, D.C. time.
00:01:12.700 And at this point, we were actually sitting down to record Friday's podcast
00:01:16.540 because Ben is going to be on an airplane all day tomorrow
00:01:19.680 when we would actually normally record it.
00:01:21.740 And we realized the problem,
00:01:23.380 which is the government is shut down right now.
00:01:25.040 And we don't know if and when the government is going to open.
00:01:28.820 Now, I'll tell you, as of lunch today, Republican leadership in the Senate
00:01:33.300 thought there was a very good chance Senate Democrats would open the government
00:01:37.200 in the next 24 or 48 hours.
00:01:39.620 It takes, we've got to get, at least seven Democrats agreeing enough is enough.
00:01:44.860 Let this never-ending, the longest shutdown in history end.
00:01:48.340 But as I sit here Wednesday night, I don't know if that will happen.
00:01:51.400 And I told Ben, look, we'll know probably sometime Thursday.
00:01:55.320 There's a chance the government opens on Thursday.
00:01:58.380 It's Wednesday night.
00:01:58.980 I don't know if that's going to happen.
00:02:00.140 There's a chance the government opens on Friday.
00:02:03.160 And there's a chance, if you have the sort of left-wing extreme and the Democrats object,
00:02:08.380 that the government opens on Saturday.
00:02:10.120 They can delay the vote until Saturday to reopen the government.
00:02:13.280 There's also a chance that Democrats look at the election results from Tuesday night.
00:02:18.980 They say the crazies are resurgent.
00:02:20.920 To hell with it.
00:02:21.540 Let's keep it shut down even longer.
00:02:23.300 So we could be facing a government shutdown that extends into next week.
00:02:26.800 Rather than have a show where if the government has just opened up
00:02:30.520 and Ben and I are not talking about it,
00:02:32.440 you guys would think, what the heck is wrong with these people?
00:02:34.640 How are you not discussing that obvious news?
00:02:38.000 We're going to give you this little teaser.
00:02:40.320 Ben will be on an airplane, so I can't record the show.
00:02:42.780 While he's on an airplane, he will land mid-morning Friday.
00:02:47.000 We will record it on Friday.
00:02:48.320 We will put the show out later on Friday.
00:02:50.760 And hopefully then we will know.
00:02:52.600 My hope is that the Friday show will begin.
00:02:56.020 Hallelujah, hallelujah.
00:02:57.240 The government is open again.
00:02:58.580 The Democrats have surrendered.
00:03:00.100 I don't know if that will happen, but it sure would be a good result.
00:03:02.680 It would be great.
00:03:03.380 I have one question that people are going to go nuts if I don't ask you.
00:03:06.740 You said we need seven Democrats.
00:03:08.900 On TV, we've been hearing the number six.
00:03:11.680 Why did you say the number seven Democrats need to pass this so they understand the logistics?
00:03:16.220 So we actually need eight.
00:03:18.140 We need eight now.
00:03:18.820 Okay, so we need eight.
00:03:19.620 So explain.
00:03:20.320 There are 53 Republicans.
00:03:21.720 To open the government, you need 60 votes.
00:03:24.080 53 plus seven is 60.
00:03:25.900 However, Rand Paul is voting with the Democrats over and over and over again to keep the government shut down.
00:03:31.340 So if you assume Rand is a no, and he almost surely is, then we have 52 Republicans, and we've got to have eight Democrats.
00:03:38.000 That's the math.
00:03:39.020 We may end up with 10 or 12 Democrats, but we need a minimum of eight.
00:03:42.780 If we don't have eight, the government stays shut down.
00:03:45.200 So there's the math for you.
00:03:46.480 So look, check back here.
00:03:47.820 We will be back with an episode when I land.
00:03:51.120 We get together, and hopefully we have good news that the crazies in the Democratic Party have decided that the United States government should be open, and we'll keep you updated on that.
00:03:59.620 Say a little prayer for a long flight across the pond, as they say.
00:04:02.740 Safe travels from Jerusalem, my friend.
00:04:04.900 Thank you, sir, and we'll see you back here.
00:04:06.560 If you're listening, just keep looking for updates.
00:04:08.680 We'll put it out also on X.
00:04:10.020 As soon as the episode goes live, Senator Cruz will put it on X.
00:04:12.620 I will as well on social media so you guys know, but check back this afternoon, and we'll see you then.
00:04:16.620 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:04:20.040 Guaranteed Human.