Here Are The Senate Republicans Who Vote Most Often For Obama Nominees

AP Photo/Susan Walsh
AP Photo/Susan Walsh

With the vote on Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch coming down to the wire, only four Republicans have announced they will vote for her. Many other GOP senators, however, are saying they can’t support her nomination because of her endorsement of President Obama’s executive amnesty.

The support of just four would be enough for Lynch’s nomination to pass, so long as Vice President Joe Biden is present to break a 50-50 tie, but it would be a historically poor showing for an attorney general nominee.

Since the Clinton Administration, the worst showing for an Attorney General nomination on the Senate floor was Michael Mukasey, whose nomination passed 53-40, with seven Democrats voting yes. Alberto Gonzalez and John Ashcroft received seven and eight votes from Democrats, respectively.

Clinton Attorney General Janet Reno’s nomination passed the Senate 98-0, while Eric Holder received what in retrospect is a surprisingly strong showing of 75-21, with 18 Republicans voting yes.

During the Obama administration, a total of 268 nominations have come to the Senate floor for a vote. On average, Obama nominees received 80.2 yes votes in support and 28.2 Republican yes votes in support. Four Republican yes votes would put Lynch in the 17th percentile of all Obama nominations in terms of Republican support, and 22 nominees have received no Republican yes votes.

Here are the Senate Republicans, ordered by what percent of Obama nominees they voted for (freshmen excluded, as they haven’t had enough nomination votes to produce meaningful results):

  1. 87% Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
  2. 77% Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
  3. 75% Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)
  4. 74% Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH)
  5. 72% Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
  6. 72% Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
  7. 70% Sen. Daniel Coats (R-IN)
  8. 69% Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
  9. 68% Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA)
  10. 68% Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
  11. 68% Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
  12. 68% Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
  13. 67% Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
  14. 67% Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
  15. 65% Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND)
  16. 64% Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)
  17. 64% Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)
  18. 64% Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
  19. 63% Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA)
  20. 63% Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
  21. 63% Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV)
  22. 63% Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS)
  23. 62% Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
  24. 62% Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
  25. 61% Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY)
  26. 60% Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE)
  27. 59% Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)
  28. 59% Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)
  29. 57% Sen. Michael Crapo (R-ID)
  30. 57% Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL)
  31. 57% Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
  32. 56% Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS)
  33. 56% Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)
  34. 55% Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
  35. 54% Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
  36. 54% Sen. John Boozman (R-AR)
  37. 53% Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
  38. 53% Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)
  39. 52% Sen. James Risch (R-ID)
  40. 52% Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
  41. 51% Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
  42. 44% Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)

The data for this analysis was the Senate XML vote data at senate.gov.

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