Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) has been a little bit all over the place the last few weeks,
signing the horrible Cotton letter to Iran, then
going liberal on the gays, then
veering into Godwin territory on the nascent Iran deal. Now he's swung himself back to the left, announcing that he will
vote to confirm Loretta Lynch as attorney general, joining Republicans Orrin Hatch (UT), Jeff Flake (AZ), Lindsey Graham (SC), and Susan Collins (ME).
"I am confident from my conversation with Loretta Lynch that she will be a valuable partner in confronting the gang violence that is robbing families of their children every day in Chicago," Kirk said in a statement. "We need the help of the Attorney General to fight gangs of national significance through federal law enforcement agencies and prosecutors, and to address organized crime like drug and child sex trafficking." […]
Kirk’s ringing endorsement gives Lynch at least five Republican supporters, which should be enough for her to be confirmed. Kirk is a top Democratic target in 2016, and he will need a lot of Democratic support to win a second term in the upper chamber.
That puts Lynch at the necessary 51 votes, assuming independents Bernie Sanders (VT) and Angus King (ME) vote with Democrats. That means that Vice President Joe Biden likely won't be called on to be present, just in case his vote is needed. There had been some speculation that recently indicted Robert Menendez (D-NJ) would abstain from voting on the nomination, which would have created just one more headache for President Obama and Senate Democrats. But on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Menendez
said he would vote for Lynch.
Now it's all up to Mitch McConnell, and whether he intends to keep this nomination a hostage to abortion politics or if he's ready to have the vote.
