Cornyn opposes ending healthcare filibuster, taking up debt increase

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tx.) on Monday signaled he would staunchly oppose any Republican effort to speed up the healthcare vote in order to tackle the debt ceiling before the holiday.

Although Cornyn acknowledged Republicans would discuss that possibility at a caucus lunch this afternoon, he said he opposed the idea and hinted many of his colleagues would follow suit.

"I'm against it; there's too much to talk about, " Cornyn told The Hill. "All the special deals -- the sweetheart deals for the various states to purchase votes -- is just one of the most offensive and outrageous things I've seen in a long time. We need to talk about that, and if there are other deals we haven't yet learned about, we need to talk about them as well."

"My hope is that we can still have another senator on the other side wake up from their reverie and realize what they're doing is contrary to the will of the public, so I'm still holding out hope," the senator added.

Cornyn said there was no reason to rush an increase to the debt ceiling, later lambasting Democrats for their spending habits. He then added that he remained hopeful one Democrat would change his or her mind and vote with Republicans against the bill.

"So I dont see any reason to speed this thing up," Cornyn said. "I'd like to spend the holiday with my family as much as everybody else, but this thing is too important to the country to sweep under the rug."

This post was updated at 6:01 p.m.

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