Senator Ted Cruz apparently got a little spicy with some airport employees this weekend -- so much so, in fact, that a police officer had to step in and calm him down.

Check out this video of Cruz arguing with a couple of United Airlines staffers at the check-in counter Sunday at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport in Montana ... after he'd missed his flight, according to the original poster of the clip.

The eyewitness claims they overheard Sen. Cruz getting all 'Karen' on the airline employees ... allegedly asking for names and to speak with their manager. Moments later, as you can see in the vid, cops showed up.

The airport cop is seen standing at the ticket counter and talking down Cruz, and while you can't really make out what either of them is saying -- the Senator was masked up -- it seems pretty tense. Push didn't come to shove, though, and all's well that ends well ... with TC reportedly getting rebooked without further incident.

Cruz was supposedly on his way to D.C. for the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson -- who's being grilled as the Senate considers her nomination to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

As you know by now, Cruz definitely made it on time in the end ... he was one of a handful of senators who made quite a spectacle in their opening statements, bringing up the hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, and invoking race right from the jump.

Seems like his mood might've been influenced by his FUBAR trip 24 hours earlier.