Sen. Cornyn on Loretta Lynch: 'I Oppose Nomination' Over Amnesty

Wednesday, February 4, 2015 07:34 PM
By: Todd Beamon

Texas Sen. John Cornyn said Wednesday that he would oppose Loretta Lynch's nomination as attorney general, becoming the third Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to cite her support of President Barack Obama's amnesty orders in withholding his support.

"I will oppose that nomination," Cornyn said on a conference call with Texas reporters, The Dallas Morning News reports. "While she has an impressive record as a United States attorney, she will become the chief advocate for the president’s policies as attorney general.

"Her testimony, expressing support for the president’s unconstitutional executive action and her support for a number of the president’s other policies, make it impossible for me to vote for her nomination," he said.

Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, has joined Sens. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and David Vitter of Louisiana in opposing Lynch's nomination. They announced their decisions after the first day of Lynch's two-day confirmation hearings before the Judiciary Committee last week.

Vitter said in December that he would not back Lynch if she did not reject Obama's orders, which he announced in November in a prime-time speech on cable television.

Two other GOP members of the panel, Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Jeff Flake of Arizona, said after her second day of testimony that they would support Lynch. South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham also hinted that was inclined to back the nominee.

But Cornyn's fellow Lone Star State Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Ted Cruz, said Tuesday that votes on Lynch's nomination by both the panel and the full Senate should be delayed to force Obama to abandon his unilateral action.

His orders would defer deportations and grant work permits to as many as five million illegals.

"For several months now, I have called on the Senate majority leader to halt confirmations of every nominee executive and judicial, other than vital national security positions, unless or until the president rescinds his unconstitutional amnesty," Cruz told Politico.

"We have an opportunity in front of us right now with Loretta Lynch — a nominee for attorney general — who has fully embraced and flat-out promised to implement the unconstitutional amnesty."

Cornyn spurned Cruz's proposal, however. "I don’t think they should be coupled together, no," he said, the Morning News reports.

Lynch, 55, has been the top federal prosecutor since 2010 for parts of New York City and Long Island. In her hearings, Lynch promised senators a fresh start from current Attorney General Eric Holder.

Holder has clashed repeatedly with Republicans during his stormy six-year tenure, and he was held in contempt of Congress in June 2012 for withholding thousands of pages of Fast and Furious documents.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Joh.../04/id/622789/

Well, it's nice to see Cornyn stepping up and speaking out with Sessions and Vitter. I agree with Cornyn, Loretta Lynch needs to be rejected regardless of the outcome of the battle over amnesty, because she's made herself clear on the issue and the clarity makes her unfit to serve as Attorney General, whether we defeat amnesty ... or not.