Sens. Sessions and Cruz, troublemakers.
It appears that some Republicans have had second thoughts about the optics of blocking the first black woman to be nominated as attorney general. After reports that the nomination was being
slow-walked and
used as a proxy for the immigration fight focused attention on how Republicans were playing politics,
it's finally moving forward, set for a committee vote on February 26.
Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent out a formal notice on Thursday setting the time for Lynch’s vote. Several Republicans on the panel, including Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona, have signaled they support Lynch or are open to voting for her to replace Attorney General Eric Holder, which would allow her nomination to clear the Judiciary Committee.
A few, however, are threatening a filibuster. Of course one of them is Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and he's backed up by Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III (R-AL) who never seems to worry about how it looks when he's blocking an African-American nominee. Which of course is a headache for Mitch McConnell, who will now likely have to file a cloture vote to break the filibuster of his own party. Fun times.