Report: Exec Amnesty May ‘Tarnish’ Loretta Lynch Even if She’s Confirmed

President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty may tarnish Loretta Lynch–even if the Senate confirms her nomination–and make it more difficult for her to enact her agenda.

Democrats need four Republicans to confirm Lynch, and Politico notes that “If Lynch is confirmed with a Senate vote that barely gets her over the finish line — or with Vice President Joe Biden casting the tie-breaking vote, a scenario that isn’t out of the question — she could end up with the narrowest margin of support of any successful attorney general nominee since Michael Mukasey, who was confirmed on a 53-40 vote in 2007,” which could leave her with a “tarnished reputation” if “all people know about her is that she squeaked by with 51 votes.”

Justice Department veterans from both parties believe, according to the report, that “she won’t be able to shake off” Obama’s executive amnesty, which “could easily overshadow everything else she does in office,” especially since Lynch’s Justice Department “is going to be on the front lines” defending Obama’s executive amnesty. The Justice Department has an appeal pending in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals after a federal judge declared a temporary injunction against Obama’s executive amnesty program.

Lynch, who has said that Obama’s executive amnesty for illegal immigrants was “reasonable,” complicated matters at her nomination hearing when she declared that illegal immigrants had equal rights as legal immigrants and American citizens regarding employment even though it is against the law for employers to hire illegal immigrants.

“Senator, I believe the right and the obligation to work is one that is shared by everyone in this country, regardless of how they came here,” Lynch said in response to a question from Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL). “Certainly, if someone is here—regardless of status—I would prefer that they be participating in the workplace than not participating in the workplace.”

She would eventually walk back those remarks in response to a softball question from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) by saying, “In my family as we grew up, we were all expected to try and find employment as part of becoming a responsible adult.”

“I was making a personal observation based on work ethics passed on by my family, not a legal observation,” she claimed.

In another example of lurching to the right before his reelection campaign, Sen. John McCain, who is up for reelection in 2016, said that no Republican should vote for Lynch because she declared that Obama’s executive amnesty was reasonable. But McCain dismissed the notion that Lynch will be damaged because of her support for Obama’s executive amnesty if she is confirmed after the Easter recess.

“No. No. No. I don’t think that matters,” McCain told Politico.