Ted Cruz pushes bill seeking police escorts for US lawmakers at airports

Republican senator, who flew to Cancún as Texas faced deadly spell of cold weather, complains of ‘serious security threats’

The Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz, who achieved viral infamy in 2021 when he was seen at Houston airport for a flight to Cancún even as his state faced a historic and deadly spell of cold weather, this week moved one step closer to securing police escorts for lawmakers at airports.

Under an amendment to the Federal Aviation Authority Reauthorization bill introduced by Cruz last month, members of Congress and other prominent officials, and some family and staff members, will be offered security escorts if they are deemed “currently … or previously … the subject of a threat, as determined by such applicable federal protective agency”.