Ted Cruz

Eight senators, all Republicans, voted against the bill because funding has not been fully allocated for its $214 billion cost. President Obama says he will sign it.

From a place of significance to what message they want to convey, where and how presidential candidates announce their campaigns matters.

The party and its leading 2016 contenders are finding themselves between a rock and hard place because of Indiana's and Arkansas' recently amended laws.

The Texas senator is looking for a boost, as he trails other GOP presidential hopefuls. So he took the bold move of becoming the first to officially declare his candidacy.

The Texas Republican's early focus will reportedly be fundraising and the caucuses. He faces what's likely to be a crowded Republican field for the 2016 presidential nomination.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz became the first major candidate to declare for president, but some question whether he's eligible since he was born in Canada. Legal scholars, though, believe he can.

Cruz has not been the buzz candidate so far in the GOP's 2016 discussions — nor the media's. In fact, he has seemed at times a bit of a faded rose, a skyrocket that has spent much of its sparkle.

With a midnight tweet, Ted Cruz became the first major candidate to announce he is running for president. But Cruz faces an uphill climb against better-funded and better-known candidates.