Ted Cruz still isn’t done with his ‘investigation’ into Bud Light

It took a while, but it appears Sen. Ted Cruz has lost interest in complaining about the “Barbie” movie. The Texas Republican has, however, shifted his attention back to Bud Light.

The senator issued this press release on Wednesday, returning to the fight he initially picked in the spring:

In case anyone needs a refresher, as part of a promotional campaign tied to the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, Bud Light partnered with Dylan Mulvaney, a trans woman with a prominent social media profile. She posted a harmless and lighthearted Instagram video, which led to conservative apoplexy because ... well, it’s not altogether clear why. Apparently, much of the right doesn’t believe trans people should be involved in promotional campaigns with beer companies.

What followed was a surprisingly intense effort on the part of the right to effectively “cancel” Bud Light, complete with boycotts and social media videos featuring conservatives pouring beer down drains.

For the junior senator from Texas, however, those reactions didn’t go quite far enough. It’s why Cruz wrote to the Anheuser-Busch CEO a few months ago, insisting that Bud Light’s March Madness partnership with a trans influencer “warrants detailed oversight by Congress” — no, seriously, that’s what it said — and to that end, he made a series of document requests.

According to the senator, the company has largely ignored Cruz’s “investigation” and sent him none of the documents.

So, he’s trying again. In fact, in his new correspondence, the senator wrote, “The level of cooperation the Committee receives will bear significantly on my assessment of whether this is part of a broader problem across the Anheuser-Busch InBev product line and whether changes to federal law are necessary to prohibit Anheuser-Busch InBev from marketing beer to children.”

Or put another way, Cruz wants the beer company to believe that he’s prepared to use his power to pursue legislation that would affect Anheuser-Busch InBev unless executives go along with his culture war campaign.

Stepping back, there are a handful of key details to keep in mind. The first is that it’s never been clear why, exactly, the senator believes Bud Light was marketing beer to minors. Dylan Mulvaney is an adult. Her promotional video related to a basketball tournament featuring other adults. At no point, as part of this marketing campaign, did she or the company make any reference to minors. I’m still at a loss to understand the reasoning behind the senator’s complaints.

But it’s also worth appreciating the fact that Cruz’s powers are limited here. Senators are certainly free to pursue specific areas of interest, and they can make document requests of public and private entities, but in this instance, Anheuser-Busch InBev doesn’t have to comply with the Texas Republican’s demands.

Whether he likes it or not, Cruz isn’t in a position to issue subpoenas or call hearings because, at least for now, there’s a Democratic majority in the Senate. Cruz might be invested in his “investigation,” and he’ll no doubt brag about it the next time he’s looking to throw red meat at a far-right audience, but his letters to the beer company’s executives have no legal weight. It’s a safe bet the company’s lawyers are aware of that.

Nevertheless, endeavors like these tell us a great deal about who Cruz is, what he values, whom he picks fights with, and how he tries to misuse the power Texans gave him.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.