Washington (CNN) – A GOP official is dismissing a report that John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is pressuring his fellow Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to drop her gubernatorial primary challenge to Gov. Rick Perry.
A Wall Street Journal column reported Thursday that Cornyn is "trying to persuade Ms. Hutchison to drop out of the governor's race [to] run for re-election to the senate" - a move that would put an end to the hard-hitting GOP primary battle in Texas and keep Hutchison's seat in Republican hands.
Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the NRSC, called the report "absolutely false."
Washington (CNN) – Although he called the Senate health care bill a "budget buster," Republican Sen. John Cornyn said Tuesday that there are some parts of it that he can get behind.
The Texas lawmaker told CNN's Suzanne Malveaux that "there are some good things about the (health care) bill," like some wellness and prevention initiatives, delivery system reforms and requiring insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions.
"Absolutely. There's bipartisan support for eliminating the pre-existing conditions exclusion," Cornyn said.
But he added that there should be "step-by-step approaches" to tackle the individual issues rather than this system overhaul.
"This bill does a lot, lot more," Cornyn said. "That's why it costs about $2.5 trillion over a ten-year full implementation period. This is a massive government takeover of health care."
(CNN) - Before making judgments about the shootings at Fort Hood, a thorough investigation needs to take place, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said Thursday.
"It is imperative that we take the time to gather all the facts, as it would be irresponsible to be the source of rumors or inaccurate information regarding such a horrific event," Cornyn said in a statement.
"Once we have ascertained all the facts, working with our military leaders and law enforcement officials on the ground, we can determine what exactly happened at Fort Hood today and how to prevent something like this from ever happening again," he said.
Related: Twelve killed in Fort Hood shootings, suspect alive, officials say
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Texas Sen. John Cornyn emphasized Republican fundraising and recruiting successes for the upcoming midterm elections, but cautioned his fellow GOP senators Tuesday that early retirements put them at a disadvantage in 2010.
"While we have the momentum on our side right now, it is also important to recognize that 2010 remains an uphill climb for us, as the aforementioned wave of early retirements left us defending six open Senate seats, compared to the Democrats' two," Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, wrote to 39 Republican senators in a new campaign strategy memo.
The memo, provided to CNN, was delivered to GOP senators on their first day back on Capitol Hill after spending the month listening to constituent concerns during the August congressional recess. The memo is intended to underscore positive political developments for the GOP in a number of key races, and also to stress that the deck that is stacked against Republicans in 2010.
"We have a very real opportunity to make gains in the Senate next year, but we must continue to offer our own positive agenda as an alternative to the Democrats' increasingly unpopular policies," Cornyn wrote. "If we are successful with this, we have a strong chance of exceeding the expectations set for us when the cycle began."
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Senate’s second-ranking Democrat slammed recent town hall protests Sunday as organized disruptions of the democratic process.
“We have these screaming groups on either side. That isn't helpful. Let's be honest about this. Town meetings are not bean bag, I've had hundreds of them and sometimes folks get upset. And that's part of America, part of our process,” Sen. Dick Durbin told CNN’s John King on “State of the Union.”
“But this is clearly being orchestrated and these folks have instructions. They come down from a Texas lobbyist in Washington..." he said.
"When there are a group of people honestly sitting in the middle trying to ask the important questions and get the right answers, and instead someone takes the microphone and screams and shouts to the point where the meeting comes to an end, that isn't dialogue, that isn't the democratic process. You know, we need to respect free speech, but we need to respect one another's rights to free speech too. When these people come in just to disrupt the meetings, no, that isn't right.”
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Senate’s second-ranking Democrat slammed recent town hall protests Sunday as organized disruptions of the democratic process.
“We have these screaming groups on either side. That isn't helpful. Let's be honest about this. Town meetings are not bean bag, I've had hundreds of them and sometimes folks get upset. And that's part of America, part of our process,” Sen. Dick Durbin told CNN’s John King on “State of the Union.”
“But this is clearly being orchestrated and these folks have instructions. They come down from a Texas lobbyist in Washington..." he said.
"When there are a group of people honestly sitting in the middle trying to ask the important questions and get the right answers, and instead someone takes the microphone and screams and shouts to the point where the meeting comes to an end, that isn't dialogue, that isn't the democratic process. You know, we need to respect free speech, but we need to respect one another's rights to free speech too. When these people come in just to disrupt the meetings, no, that isn't right.”
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Two key Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee announced their opposition to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on Friday, a further sign the party's conservative base is uniting against President Barack Obama's first high court pick.
Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah - the former chairman of the committee - and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas - head of the party's Senate campaign committee - announced on the Senate floor their intention to vote against the 55-year-old federal appeals court judge.
Hatch's decision came as somewhat of a surprise. The veteran Republican has voted for every high court nominee in his 32-year Senate career - including President Bill Clinton's two liberal choices, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.
Hatch had praised Sotomayor's "credentials and experience" and the fact she would be the first Hispanic justice. But despite the nominee's compelling life story, Hatch said that controversial off-the-bench comments by Sotomayor troubled him.
"I reluctantly, and with a heavy heart, have found that I cannot support her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court," Hatch said in a written statement.
(CNN) - Texas Republican John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Friday he would vote no to confirm Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.
The former Texas State Supreme Court justice questioned Sotomayor's "objectivity and neutrality" given a string of court rulings and her past statements.
"I went into the hearing with an open mind. I felt she deserved the opportunity to explain how she approached some of the most controversial cases on which she's ruled and put her public statements in context," he said.
"At the end of the hearing I found myself wondering who is the real Judge Sonia Sotomayor," Cornyn said.
Earlier in the week, South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham became the first Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to announce he would support Sotomayor. In all, five Republicans have said they will vote to confirm Obama's choice for the high court.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Senate Republicans will not attempt to filibuster the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to become the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, a Republican senator said Wednesday.
"You will get that up-or-down vote on the Senate floor," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said to Sotomayor on the third day of her confirmation hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Cornyn and other Republicans on the committee have criticized Democratic filibusters of previous judicial nominees by Republican presidents. The Democratic filibusters prevented a full vote by the Senate.
Facing a filibuster-proof 60 Senate seats in the Democratic caucus, Republicans have said they expect Sotomayor to be confirmed by the full chamber.
(CNN) - A top Senate Republican is taking aim at recent statements from conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich suggesting Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is a "racist."
"I think it's terrible," Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told NPR's "All Things Considered" Thursday. "This is not the kind of tone any of us want to set when it comes to performing our constitutional responsibilities of advise and consent.”
Both the popular radio host and former GOP House Speaker have suggested Obama's pick for the high court is a racist while referencing a 2001 speech at Berkeley during which Sotomayor said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
Related: In her own words: Sotomayor's 'Latina' speech
"Imagine a judicial nominee said 'my experience as a white man makes me better than a latina woman.' new racism is no better than old racism," Gingrich wrote on Twitter Wednesday.
"Here you have a racist – you might want to soften that, and you might want to say a reverse racist," Limbaugh said the day before on his radio program.
Senate Republicans meanwhile have largely withheld judgment on Sotomayor, though many - including Cornyn - have taken issue with some of her past statements and rulings.
"We are all a product of our upbringing and who we are and I think it’s a fact people do have different backgrounds, but I don't think those background ought to determine what the law is," Cornyn said to NPR of Sotomayor's Berkeley comments.
The NRSC chief also brushed off the Limbaugh and Gingrich statements while noting neither man holds an elected office.
"Neither one of these men are elected Republican officials. I just don't think it’s appropriate. I certainly don't endorse it. I think it’s wrong," he said.
From CNN Politics
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