WASHINGTON (AP) _ Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz issued a stark warning against confirmation of Loretta Lynch as President Barack Obama’s attorney general _ then was the lone senator to skip the crucial Senate vote.
A spokeswoman for the Texas senator said a previous test vote mattered more and Cruz voted no. But less than two hours later, he was absent when Lynch was confirmed 56-43. Cruz had spoken on the floor in opposition to Lynch because, he said, she refused to sufficiently limit Obama’s powers.
It was the second day in a row that Cruz was missing during a Senate tally. On Wednesday, he was absent for a vote on a bill expanding law enforcement tools to target sex traffickers and create a new fund to help victims. That bill passed 99-0.