Sen. Kelly Ayotte said Wednesday she hopes Congress will reach a long-term fiscal deal in the months ahead and that she never signed on to a plan to defund Obamacare — despite her opposition to the health care law — because it never seemed like “a winning strategy.”
Mrs. Ayotte, New Hampshire Republican, said the Senate is at a crossroads and needs to strike a deal to reopen the government and raise the debt limit before the nation hits the ceiling on its borrowing authority at midnight.
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“I am confident, because we cannot, obviously, default,” Mrs. Ayotte told CNN’s “New Day.”
Asked if Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican and chief architect of the defund Obamacare plan, would hold up a vote on any plan on the floor, Mrs. Ayotte said that “it’s up to him.”
“I would hope that he wouldn’t … what’s he trying to gain at this point?” she said.
Assuming Congress can reach a quick deal, the senator said lawmakers need to forge lasting fiscal reforms so they do not careen from crisis to crisis.
“I think we’ve proven that this is not good for the country,” she told CNN.
