WASHINGTON -- The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved Loretta Lynch to be the next attorney general, sending her nomination to the full Senate for what is likely to be a contentious vote.
The panel voted 12-8 to advance Lynch, President Barack Obama's pick to replace Attorney General Eric Holder, with all of the votes against her coming from Republicans. The full Senate will likely vote in the next week or two.
While praising Lynch's credentials, Republicans made clear that their objections to her nomination hinged on her belief in the legality of the president's executive action on immigration, the same issue that has tied up the approval of funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
Several Republicans said they did not believe that she would be willing to stand up to the president if needed. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said approving Lynch would amount to approving Obama's policies.
"A vote for this nominee, in my opinion, who favors and will defend this unconstitutional action, does provide support for the president's agenda, and I don't think we should provide that," he said.
But Lynch needed just two Republican votes to proceed to consideration by the full Senate. She got three -- Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina voted in favor of her.
Hatch said he believed Lynch would act more independently than Holder. He criticized his colleagues for opposing her solely on the basis of some of her testimony before the committee and for dismissing her "substantial" career.
"I do not believe that that is the proper way to evaluate any nominee's fitness," he said.
Several senators, including Graham and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized their colleagues, saying they had hashed out the immigration debate in an inappropriate forum.
As the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, Lynch has already been confirmed by the Senate twice. But she is expected to meet some resistance this time, with conservative Republicans such as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas opposing her because of her defense of Obama's immigration actions, and with others, such as Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, promising to reject all of Obama's nominees.
Cruz on Thursday called Lynch "unsuitable" for the job, saying her confirmation would open up the possibility that 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."
But a change to the Senate rules orchestrated by Democrats in 2013 means only a simple majority -- not the previous threshold of 60 votes -- is needed to stop a filibuster and confirm a nominee.
The vote Thursday came a month after her confirmation hearings, which featured criticism of Holder. Senators quizzed Lynch about her stances on Holder's policies, such as his choice not to defend a federal ban on same-sex marriage. She replied that she would make her own decisions.
Republicans further postponed the committee vote two weeks ago, a move Senate Democrats criticized. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the committee's ranking Democrat, pointed out that Lynch has had the longest wait of any attorney general nominee in the modern era, with nearly four months passing since her nomination. He said she had answered an "unprecedented" number of questions from the committee.
Holder, who in September announced his plans to resign, has served in the Obama administration for six years, drawing conservative ire for his outspoken, liberal approach to leading the Justice Department. He has a close relationship with the president and was one of the earliest members of his Cabinet.
A Section on 02/27/2015