"Why was it that a few months ago … when the president had both Houses under the control of his party - why did he opt not to pass a budget for fiscal year 2011?" asked Lee, who helped found the Senate's Tea Party Caucus earlier this year.

"It was either irresponsible on one hand or deliberate and malicious on the other with intention to bring about a sequence of events that would culminate inevitably in a government shutdown," said Lee.