Alberto Gonzales believes Senate Republicans should "do their job" and give Loretta Lynch, the White House attorney general nominee, an up-or-down vote.
"I feel very strongly the president of the United States is entitled to his team. And so long as his nominee is qualified, then he's entitled to his team. He's done his job by nominating Loretta Lynch; the Senate needs to do its job and give her an up-or-down vote," said Gonzales, who served in the same role in George W. Bush's administration, in an
interview with Politico.
In addition to viewing her as a qualified applicant, Gonzales contended that her expressed support for President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration, which would grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants, was not sufficient reason to delay or oppose her nomination.
"People may not like her position on immigration, but you know what? She works for the President of the United States. If that's his position, she's part of his team," Gonzales said.
"If [Republicans] don't like that, they should've won the election; they should've won the White House."
Gonzales, whose confirmation hearings were used by Democrats to attack the Bush administration's interrogation techniques, decried the rhetoric used by "certain segments" of the Republican Party and that the party as a whole needs to be mindful of the language used when discussing immigration.
"The rhetoric that comes from certain segments of the Republican Party is so harsh and so condemning," Gonzales said. "I think we need to take note of that when we talk about immigration."
While Lynch's nomination once seemed secure, opposition began to strengthen in March when Sen. John McCain announced his intention to vote against confirming her — a position at odds with Sen. Jeff Flake, a fellow Arizona Republican, and his political ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
"No, he's not voting for her, because she called the Obama executive action on immigration 'reasonable,' " McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said in an email to
Breitbart News.
Further slowing a possible vote was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's determination to hold a vote on an anti-human trafficking bill before Lynch's nomination.
The measure, which had enjoyed broad bipartisan support until Democrats accused Republicans of adding anti-abortion language, could receive a vote this week, which would clear the path for a vote on Lynch,
reports The New Orleans Times-Picayune.
While Lynch has passed through the Senate nomination twice, when she was tapped to be the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, her nomination will likely to be the closest vote ever for an attorney general nominee and she already has waited longer than any other attorney general nominee between her nomination and a Senate confirmation vote,
reports Roll Call.
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