Ted Cruz names most powerful Democrat as he warns socialist rise has paralyzed bipartisanship

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, believes that fear of a rising wave of progressives is paralyzing possible bipartisan work on permitting reform that would otherwise create fertile ground for collaboration.

"That dynamic is dangerous right now because they are terrified of the extreme left. Finding a middle ground on ideological issues right now is … the prospects for success, particularly between now and election day, are not high," Cruz said at an energy summit hosted by Club for Growth and Arnold Ventures on Thursday.

"Schumer is truly terrified right now," he added, referring to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Cruzs political assessment underscores what progressive momentum in the 2026 midterms means for more establishment figures in the Democratic Party — and especially the ones already in Congress — and the policy areas that legislators may still want to address before the November midterm elections.

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"Theyre in the middle of a revolution," Cruz said. "Their problem is that theyre very driven by their interest groups. Theyre captured by their activists."

His remarks came as he delivered an address at an energy affordability summit hosted by the Club for Growth, a free-market group that advocates for limited government. In particular, the event centered on permitting reform, an area where Democrats and Republicans have found some overlap.

Although differences remain about just how far to scale back regulations or how far to push legislative changes, lawmakers at the event stressed that bipartisan work on cutting back red tape could meaningfully expand American access to energy projects domestically.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright noted how regulatory bodies had prevented the expansion of nuclear energy — a source of power that is uniting Republicans and Democrats as a new frontier in a space apart from fossil fuels.

"We have built three new nuclear reactors in like the last 40 years. It went quickly from: we didnt even know about the technology, to 20% of U.S. electric generation from nuclear reactors," Wright said.

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"We created the Nuclear Regulatory Commission… in the name of safety, no malintent. But since that creation, weve built almost no reactors in the United States since. If its so uncertain and so long to permit something, its just not worth investing in. Thats awful! Nuclear is just an awesome energy technology."

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio., stressed that many of the discussions around reform have come down to a matter of practical details.

"There's a lot of conversations going on not about who's going to fight with whom or w