Ted Cruz is sorry he ruined his colleagues’ weekend

Last weekend, Ted Cruz forced the Senate to stay in session all day on a Saturday — and arguably made it easier for Senate Democrats to confirm 24 presidential nominees, including a new surgeon general. Cruz’ fellow Republicans were, to say the least, not pleased.

This isn’t the first time Cruz has ticked off his Senate GOP colleagues. But it might be the first time he’s apologized for it.

At the Senate Republicans’ weekly lunch, according to Politico, Cruz “offered the apology in unsolicited remarks, saying that he regretted if any of his colleagues’ schedules were ruined by his maneuvering.”

What prompted the change of heart? It might have been the vote on Saturday night on the motion that Ted Cruz and Mike Lee forced the Senate to stay open to consider. Cruz and Lee’s motion, which would have expressed the Senate’s belief that President Obama’s recent immigration actions were unconstitutional, failed 22-74. 20 of Cruz’s fellow Senate Republicans voted no on it, simply to send a message to Cruz that they didn’t like his tactics.

If Cruz is trying to improve his relationship with his colleagues, though, he has a long way to go, as National Review wrote earlier this month:

“There were 44 other Republican senators when Cruz first came to Washington,” one reporter who covers Capitol Hill tells NRO. “I think it’s fair to say over 40 of them do not hold him in high esteem personally.”