U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander Thursday released the following statement after voting against the president’s nominee for attorney general, Loretta Lynch.
“Today I voted against President Obama’s nomination of Loretta Lynch for attorney general of the United States because it was an opportunity, within the Senate rules, to express my disapproval of the president’s abuse of executive authority,” said Senator Alexander.
Ms. Lynch said in January that she supports President Obama’s executive amnesty granting temporary legal status and work permits to up to 5 million illegal immigrants. Senator Alexander has said the President’s unilateral decision to grant illegal executive amnesty is a major example of how the Obama administration has gone around Congress and abused its executive authority.
Senator Alexander voted to end debate, saying that Ms. Lynch's confirmation “should be decided by a majority vote of senators, as cabinet nominations have been decided throughout the history of the Senate.” On Feb. 4 Senator Alexander and Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced legislation to establish by Senate rule the Senate tradition of approving presidential nominations by a simple majority vote, rather than the 60 votes it would take to end a filibuster. Senator Alexander said that, according to information compiled by the Senate historian and the Congressional Research Service, in the entire history of the U.S. Senate since Thomas Jefferson wrote the rules in 1789, no cabinet nominee has ever been denied confirmation by requiring 60 votes to end a filibuster.