Ted Cruz takes a shot at Mitch McConnell after he gets outplayed by Dems on Manchin deal

The consensus around Washington D.C. is that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) got badly outplayed by Democrats this week after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced a budget reconciliation deal with his fellow Democrats.

Essentially, McConnell warned Democrats that they would have to scrap plans for including climate investments in their budget reconciliation package or he would block the passage of the CHIPs act that was designed to bolster American manufacturing of semiconductors to reduce dependence on China.

McConnell let the CHIPs bill pass this week, and just hours later Manchin and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced they'd come to a deal for a package that included climate investments.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Thursday took a shot at McConnell while talking to reporters, as he said the Republican leader hadn't done enough to disrupt Democrats' legislative agenda.

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"When you make a threat, you should follow through,” Cruz said, according to CNN's Manu Raju. “Bluffing doesn’t work when you don’t follow through.”

Although Republicans may be angry and Democrats' maneuvering, there is still no guarantee that the Manchin bill will pass the Senate, as Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) still has not committed to backing it and in the past she has expressed reservations about some of the key tax increases that would be leveled against wealthy Americans.