The Senate Judiciary Committee
approved the nomination of Loretta Lynch as attorney general on Thursday, in a vote of 12 to 8. Republicans Orrin Hatch (UT), Jeff Flake (AZ) and Lindsey Graham (SC) joined all Democrats in advancing the nomination. And now the fun begins for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Mr. Cruz on Thursday called Ms. Lynch "unsuitable" for the job, saying her confirmation would open up the possibility that Mr. Obama would take broader action on immigration and other policies.
"In this instance, Ms. Lynch has sat in this room and told the members of this committee what she intends to do," he said. "If those answers are not sufficient to vote against a nominee, I don't know what answers will be."
Cruz has
already put McConnell on notice that he might attempt to derail a vote on the floor for Lynch, and he's
now joined by other Republicans, including John McCain (AZ) and Deb Fischer (NE), who initially said they were impressed by Lynch and would support her. But if they have to give in on the fight to shut down the Department of Homeland Security over immigration, then they appear to figure that taking it to the Lynch nomination is all they got.
She'll only need—and will be likely to get—five Republican votes when her confirmation reaches the floor. Or perhaps "whenever" her nomination reaches the floor, because McConnell has so far been noncommittal about when he might bring the vote to the full Senate. Having Cruz bloviating about a potential filibuster—a very rare filibuster, coming from the majority—and lots of senators wanting to score tea party political points gives McConnell more headaches. He might not do anything about this nomination until the big DHS showdown with his House Republican colleagues is resolved.