Loretta Lynch was finally, after a protracted stalemate, confirmed as Attorney General Thursday afternoon, in a vote of 56-43. Who skipped?
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who had vocally opposed Lynch for months. “My vote on Loretta Lynch is going to be unambiguously no,” Cruz told Newsmax five days ago. “Unequivocal.”
Cruz, an announced 2016 candidate for the GOP nomination, stuck around to vote no on the cloture vote, which requires a higher 60-vote threshold than the majority required for confirmation. Apparently, that meant to Cruz that the actual vote wasn’t all that important:
Cruz spox: "He gave a floor speech against her being confirmed. He voted 'no' on the cloture vote. That was the vote that mattered."
— Rebecca Berg (@rebeccagberg) April 23, 2015
(So, I still don't know why Cruz missed the vote.)
— Rebecca Berg (@rebeccagberg) April 23, 2015
More:
Per Cruz 2016 spox, Cruz missed final Lynch vote bc he had to catch a flight to Texas for a prior commitment.
— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) April 23, 2015
In the end Lynch got the support of ten Republicans, including Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
[Image via Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com]