Nothing says you’ve been kicked out of the clubhouse like having a conservative Republican Senator from your own state tell the press that there isn’t a shot for you to be confirmed. Kris Kobach, the failed candidate for Kansas Governor, has run afoul of Senator Pat Roberts, who told the Kansas City Star rumors of Kobach to DHS have no merit — because Kobach can’t be confirmed.
One of the GOP senators from Kris Kobach’s home state said Tuesday that the Senate would not be able to confirm the Kansas Republican if President Donald Trump tapped him for a cabinet post.
Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state, has been mentioned as a potential candidate for an array of immigration-related positions since President Donald Trump pulled his nominee for the director of Immigration Customs Enforcement and announced the departure of Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.
But Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, said he doesn’t believe the Republican-controlled Senate could confirm his fellow Kansan, who has gained national notoriety for championing stronger restrictions on immigration.
“Don’t go there. We can’t confirm him,” Roberts whispered to The Kansas City Star when asked about Kobach Tuesday on his way into a Senate vote.
“I never said that to you,” Roberts added, despite the fact that another reporter was present and The Star had not agreed to an off record conversation.
Kobach has been the subject of a lot of rumors around Kansas, mostly around whether or not he would head to DHS, not only to fill a roll with the Trump administration but to prevent him from running for US Senate, something many Republicans worry could happen. Privately, Kansas Republicans worry Kobach could win a Republican primary — and create a 2000 election where Republican voters struggle to pull the trigger for Captain Voter Disenfranchisement in the fall.
Kobach is still rumored for any post within the administration, and while cabinet posts have to be confirmed, sub-cabinet posts, or the possible creation of an immigration czar, could create a strategy for Kobach to “get out of Dodge” — which, btw, remains a city where the federal government is investigating voter suppression efforts.