Senate Republicans and Democrats on Thursday signaled approval of President Trump’s rumored choice of William P. Barr, a former Bush administration official, to serve as the next U.S. attorney general.
“I think he’s the kind of person that could get confirmed,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas. Press reports said Thursday that Trump is leaning toward Barr, who was President George H.W. Bush’s attorney general from 1991-1993.
Cornyn is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold a hearing and vote on Trump’s selection to replace Jeff Sessions. Trump forced Sessions to step down in November, in part because Sessions recused himself from the special counsel investigation into alleged collusion between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.
Another member of the committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told the Washington Examiner he has known Barr a long time and respects his work.
“I’ve always said the best thing the administration can do is get somebody who would have majority support from Republicans and Democrats,” Leahy said. When asked if Barr could win such support, Leahy said, “yes he could.”
This year, members of both parties wondered how Trump would be able to get rid of Sessions and get a replacement confirmed in the Senate. But with the midterm elections over, Trump fired Sessions and put Matthew Whitaker in his place in an acting capacity.
That move has led to new complaints that Whitaker isn’t Senate confirmed and shouldn’t be there in an acting capacity. Cornyn indicated that Barr could be a nominee who is able to resolve the situation by winning votes from both sides.
“Getting the next nominee confirmed is going to be a little bit of a challenge,” Cornyn said. “So he may be the kind of person that would be easier to confirm than others.”
