Sen. John Cornyn at a Senate hearing Nov. 6, 2013. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON –Republicans will remain focused on a security-first approach to immigration if they win control of the Senate, Sen. John Cornyn said Monday.
“Our Democrat friends want to eat dessert before they eat their vegetables on immigration. I just don’t think that’s going to work,” he said.
Cornyn spent an hour with The Dallas Morning News editorial board earlier today. Video clips posted here.
He warned that President Barack Obama would be unwise to issue any sweeping immigration policies using executive authority.
“I just can’t think of anything that would poison the well more,” said Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, who is seeking a third 6-year term against Democratic nominee David Alameel, a Dallas investor and dentist.
Immigration advocates have accused Cornyn for years, and Republicans generally, of using security demands as a trump card to deflect demands for broader reforms.
Cornyn acknowledged that advocates might see a security-first approach as yet another stalling tactic.
“I guess we could say trust me. But there’s not a lot of trust,” he said. “But anything comprehensive is going to be viewed as another exercise like the Affordable Care Act” – that is, a huge, complex package with too many moving parts and too many objectionable elements.
A piecemeal approach suits Republicans better, Cornyn said.
“Is a Republican-controlled Congress going to pass a quick pathway to citizenship? No,” he said. “But would there be an opportunity to vote on — once border security was addressed, once the visa overstay was addressed and an e-verify system put in place, is there way then to look at how do we provide some way for people to earn a legal status so that they can stay and be productive? I think there is.”
Cornyn was pleased at last week’s resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder. He’d called for years for Holder to resign, and Monday repeated assertions that Holder turned his office into an arm of the White House political operation.
“Eric Holder took this to an extreme,” Cornyn said, citing the Justice Department’s legal fight with Texas over the state’s voter ID law, and Holder’s role in the Fast and Furious gun-running operation.
He declined to pick a favorite for a replacement.
“I’m sure he’s not waiting for my recommendation. That might be the kiss of death,” he said, referring to Obama.
But he named one potential nominee he might find acceptable: Kathryn Ruemmler, a former White House counsel to Obama who previously held a top post at the Justice Department. He cautioned Obama not to name a replacement before the new Congress begins in January.
When it comes to the looming 2016 presidential race, Cornyn sounded tepid when it comes to the state’s junior senator, Ted Cruz, or fellow tea partier Rand Paul, who represents Kentucky in the Senate but who also has deep Texas roots, born and raised in the Houston area and educated at Baylor.
Asked about them and Gov. Rick Perry, who also is eyeing a run, Cornyn said, “I’m not going to pick among my friends. I do think that we have a number of governors that I think have had good experience running things which I think will make them attractive.”
Cornyn took a small swipe at Democratic challenger David Alameel, a Dallas dentist and investor.
“I’ve not seen him on the campaign trail,” he said, though he did recall meeting Alameel years ago. “He used to be a supporter of mine and he used to be an active Republican donor.” (Earlier this year Alameel requested a refund of his donations to Cornyn, which the senator refused.)
On the Islamic State, Cornyn reiterated his view that Obama should have come to Congress and sought a full debate over U.S. military involvement. That, he said, would promote buy-in both from lawmakers and the public.
And he called it remarkable that Tony Blinken, a top White House national security adviser, said Sunday that Obama still wants Congress to repeal a 2002 authorization to use military force in Iraq, even as he invokes it for the U.S. involvement against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
“My head may explode trying to figure that one out,” Cornyn said.
He added that Obama seems to be ignoring military advice by refusing to commit U.S. combat troops to the fight.
He called it a grievous mistake to work with Iran against ISIL.
“That’s very dangerous,” Cornyn said. “You can already see them try to leverage their participation… into not giving up their nuclear weapons-building capability…. The single biggest threat to the Middle East is an Iranian nuclear weapon.”