Senator Cruz opposed the transfer when it appeared ICANN's governance model was going to be like the U.N., where countries might have veto power over strong transparency, security, privacy, freedom of speech, financial accessibility, etc. Senator Cruz and many in his party are disdainful of the U.N. and similar multilateral international institutions; they oppose them on principal.
But ICANN ended up being run more like a private company in a free market. The fact that it also resulted in poor financial accessibility or any of the other feared consequences is irrelevant to Senator Cruz unless it somehow furthered the vilification of social media outlets and his attempts to repeal Communications Decency Act Section 230 protections. Don't forget, Cruz also opposes net neutrality, believing it to be "the biggest regulatory threat to the Internet".
But ICANN ended up being run more like a private company in a free market. The fact that it also resulted in poor financial accessibility or any of the other feared consequences is irrelevant to Senator Cruz unless it somehow furthered the vilification of social media outlets and his attempts to repeal Communications Decency Act Section 230 protections. Don't forget, Cruz also opposes net neutrality, believing it to be "the biggest regulatory threat to the Internet".