Alabama senator Jeff Sessions will oppose the nomination of Loretta Lynch to be the next attorney general. In a statement announcing his dissent, Sessions cited Lynch’s defense of the president’s executive action on immigration as a primary concern.
“Unfortunately, when asked today whether she found the President’s actions to be ‘legal and constitutional,’ Ms. Lynch said that she did,” Sessions said. “I therefore am unable to support her nomination. My concerns are furthered by Ms. Lynch’s unambiguous declaration that ‘the right and the obligation to work is one that’s shared by everyone in this country regardless of how they came here.’”
Sessions is not alone in his outspoken resistance to Lynch’s nomination: Louisiana senator David Vitter announced his opposition in advance of the confirmation hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Committee today. After meeting with Lynch in private, Vitter told NRO earlier this month that he thinks Lynch may be even more dangerous than current attorney general Eric Holder, because how Lynch’s quiet demeanor may allow her to deflect attention from the Justice Department’s outrageous policies.
While testifying today, Lynch defended the president’s executive action, supported illegal immigrants’ right to work in the United States, and chose not to describe her views on the limits of prosecutorial discretion.
Lynch’s confirmation hearing will resume tomorrow and include testimony from several panelists, including Sharyl Attkisson, an investigative reporter suing the Justice Department, and Jonathan Turley, the George Washington University law professor that is helping House Republicans sue the Obama administration.