Cornyn: Lynch likely to be confirmed

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Tuesday that Loretta Lynch will likely be approved as the next attorney general, though he won’t personally be voting for her.

“My expectation is that she’ll probably be confirmed,” he told reporters. “I’ve already stated that I won’t be voting for her nomination.”

{mosads}Cornyn declined to say whether or not Republican leadership would tell senators to vote against Lynch, saying that he never talks about “what we whip or what we don’t whip.”

If all Democrats, as well as the two independent senators, support Lynch, she will need four Republican votes to get approved. Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch (Utah), Jeff Flake (Ariz.). Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Susan Collins (Maine) have suggested that they’ll support her.

Lynch was expected to get a vote earlier this month, but was held up because of a fight over an abortion provision included in a bill aimed at curbing human trafficking.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has pledged to delay Lynch’s nomination until after senators pass the anti-human trafficking bill.

Cornyn told reporters last week that Republicans were feeling “zero” pressure to bring Lynch up for a vote quickly.

The rhetoric surrounding a vote on Lynch’s nomination has grown heated recently. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said she is being forced to sit “in the back of the bus.”

Republicans slammed Durbin for his comments, which alludes to African Americans previously having to sit in the back of public busses during segregation. Cornyn said Tuesday that Durbin’s comments were a “low blow.”

Conservative Republicans, meanwhile, have long pledged to vote against her because of President Obama’s executive actions.

More Republicans, including Sens. Shelly Moore Capito (W.V.) and Dan Coats (Ind.), have said in recent days that they would not support her nomination.