Cruz cancels migrant-related subpoena vote, but pledges more subpoenas to come

Politico

12-03-2025

Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz canceled a scheduled vote on Wednesday to subpoena the Massachusetts Port Authority for sheltering migrants in Boston's Logan International Airport, announcing that the authority — known as Massport — complied with his request for information at the last minute.
'This is a win for the federal taxpayers and airline passengers who thought their money was going to pay for services at Logan but instead financed a dormitory for illegal aliens," the Texas Republican said at the start of a committee meeting.
The conclusion allowed both parties to stand down after last week's unusually fiery committee hearing for the panel that has historically prided itself on bipartisanship. Democrats accused Cruz of acting too quickly to use the subpoena power without their buy-in, while Cruz argued it was necessary given Massport's then-lack of compliance.
'It turns out even the threat of subpoenas work,' Cruz said Wednesday. He had just one week earlier also withdrawn two other slated subpoena votes for the online service provider Bonterra — which he argues has deplatformed conservatives — and for the consulting firm Newpoint Strategies — related to diversity training for federal workers — after both companies turned over the materials requested.
Yet Cruz also signaled more subpoenas could be coming as he intends to make oversight efforts a significant focus of his new chairship, arguing that his colleagues have previously let their oversight power atrophy.
'I hope this is a message to other entities that when Congress has serious oversight questions, you should answer them,' Cruz said. 'If you refuse, this committee will exercise all the authorities it has.'
Cruz's warning, however, comes after he asked committee Republicans to give him unilateral subpoena authority that wouldn't require sign-off from the ranking member or a vote by the full panel. Members of his own party privately balked at the request, with the White House also signaling reservations about allowing Cruz the unfettered ability to haul Big Tech CEOs before the committee — including those with whom officials in the Trump administration are cozy.
That effort appears to now be on hold as Cruz pursues a more narrow set of subpoenas that would have Republican support. GOP committee members would have voted in favor of subpoenaing Massport, for instance, which had, up until July, permitted migrants to sleep at the airport as the state lacked the sufficient number of beds at official shelters to house the flow of immigrants coming into the region.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, then prohibited the practice, but migrants have reportedly been continuing to stay there. Jennifer Mehigan, a spokesperson for Massport, said last week in a statement that 'no families have stayed at the airport' since Healey's order.
The reason the committee postponed that subpoena vote last week was that there wasn't a quorum necessary to proceed with official business. Not all Republicans were present, and Cruz needed unanimous consent to resume the hearing later in the day. Democrats did not agree.