John Cornyn, the Senator from Central Casting

John Cornyn, the senior U.S. Senator of Texas, is one of the most powerful Republicans in Washington D.C. and is rumored to be a possible successor to current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. He is also one of the worst Swamp Monsters in the Republican Party. He supports liberal immigration policies, gun control, soft-on-crime policies, endless foreign wars, and is not pro-Trump.

Notable Jobs

●      U.S. Senator of Texas from December 2002 to the present.

●      National Republican Senatorial Committee from January 2009 to January 2013.

●      Republican Senate Whip from January 2013 to January 2019.

●      Texas Attorney General from January 1999 to December 2002.

Notable Swamp Activities

●      Cornyn relied on powerful corporate lobbies to defeat a tea party challenger in 2014. Goldman Sachs, Koch Industries and Lockheed Martin were some of the swampy players that raised over a million dollars for Cornyn’s war chest. It was the largest sum raised from lobbyist-bundlers by any politician that cycle. [How lobbyists helped build John Cornyn’s election war chest, by Michael Beckel, Center for Public Integrity, June 16, 2014]

Weak on Social Issues

●      Cornyn led the effort for Republicans to compromise on gun control with Democrats. He negotiated a bill that placed key restrictions on law-abiding gun owners and championed it to conservative media. The bill was signed into law by President Biden. [Gun safety deal puts Cornyn's Republican cred on the line, by Burgess Everett and Olivia Beavers, POLITICO, June 22, 2022]

●      After working on the gun control sellout, Cornyn indicated he next wanted to work with Democrats on an immigration amnesty. Criticism made him back away from that pledge and insist he was only joking. [John Cornyn Says Comment to Senators About Immigration Deal Was a Joke, by Sean Moran, Breitbart, June 21, 2022]

●      While he says he was only joking, Cornyn has led bipartisan negotiations to hash out a amnesty deal for months. [Border fights loom over immigration talks, by Jordain Carney, The Hill, May 9, 2022]

●      He expressed interest in working with Democrats to liberalize America’s immigration laws right after the 2020 election. [Biden win revives immigration talk, by Jordain Carney, The Hill, November 17, 2020]

●      Cornyn has long advocated for an amnesty for “Dreamers”--illegal aliens who came to the country as minors. In his 2020 re-election bid, he produced an ad in Spanish proclaiming his support for a Dreamer amnesty.  [In Spanish, Cornyn ad says he 'strongly supports legalization of Dreamers’, by Todd J. Gillman, Dallas Morning News, September 22, 2020]

●      Cornyn introduced a Dreamer amnesty in the Senate in 2021. [Republican immigration proposal falls flat, by Rebecca Beitsch and Rafael Bernal, The Hill, July 10, 2021]

●      The Texas senator is open to the idea of legalizing millions of illegal agricultural workers through the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. [Senate Republicans lukewarm on House’s ag labor bill, by Jacqui Fatka, Farm Futures, July 22, 2021]

●      Cornyn championed Afghan refugee resettlement, claiming America was obligated to welcome in these unvetted migrants. [Americans prepare to welcome thousands of Afghan refugees, by Holly Bailey and Annie Gowen, Washington Post, August 20, 2021]

●      Cornyn supports increasing the number of guest worker visas to replace American workers with cheap foreign labor. He defends H-1B visas, which are primarily used to replace skilled white-collarw workers. [Texas senator backs H-1B staffing firms, by Patrick Thibodeau, Computerworld, July 1, 2011] He also supports increasing the number of visa given to migrants to replace American blue-collar workers. [Businesses banking on a summer boom face foreign worker shortage, by Rebecca Rainey, Politico, July 4, 2021]

●      Cornyn opposed Donald Trump’s immigration moratorium, which protected American jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. [GOP Senators Ask Trump To Preserve Guest Worker Programs Amid Economic Downturn, by Jason Hopkins, Daily Caller, May 27, 2020]

●      The senator has long promoted criminal justice reform, a policy that has devastated American cities and spiked crime rates. He pushed the First Step Act, which released violent criminals back into the general population. [Cornyn's push for federal prison reform helps First Step Act clear U.S. Senate, by Abby Livingston, Texas Tribune, December 18, 2018]

●      Cornyn vowed to do more to advance criminal justice reform following George Floyd’s death in 2020. “I’m dedicated to rooting out racial injustices so no other family has to experience what George Floyd’s family has,” he said after meeting Floyd’s family. [GOP senator says he spoke with George Floyd's family, by Zack Budryk, The Hill, June 8, 2020]

●      He supported the removal of Confederate names and symbols from all military bases. [John Cornyn signals openness to removing Confederate names from military bases, by Abby Livingston, Texas Tribune, June 12, 2020].

●      Cornyn was the chief GOP backer of making Juneteenth a federal holiday, saying it would bring closer to America achieving “equality.” He attacked conservative critics of the holiday, who noted its anti-American themes, as “kooky.” [House passes bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, by By Dareh Gregorian and Haley Talbot, NBC, June 16, 2022]

Supports Crony Capitalism

●      Cornyn supported NAFTA and criticized Trump’s desire to eliminate the globalist trade agreement in 2016. “NAFTA is not a dirty word in Texas,” he said at the time. [Texas Republicans Duck Trump's Fire on NAFTA, by Kirby Wilson, Texas Tribune, August 9. 2016]

●      The senator supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and criticized Trump’s decision to scrap it. [25 GOP senators urge Trump to restart TPP trade talks, a deal he called a ‘disaster’, by Heather Long, Washington Post, February 20, 2018]

●      Cornyn voted for the CHIPS Act, which offered massive handouts to woke corporations and encouraged Green New Deal initiatives. [Congress Passes CHIPS Act to Boost Domestic Semiconductor Manufacturing, by Sean Moran, Breitbart, July 28, 2022]

Anti-MAGA

●      Cornyn dumped Trump before the 2020 election. Just a few weeks before Election Day, the senator told a reporter that the GOP’s relationship with Trump was like a failed marriage: “Maybe like a lot of women who get married and think they’re going to change their spouse, and that doesn’t usually work out very well.” Cornyn said he opposed the 45th’s president’s use of Defense Department funds to build the wall. [Cornyn says he broke with Trump on deficit, border wall, but kept opposition private, by Gordon Dickson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 18, 2020]

●      He opposed Trump challenging the 2020 election. [GOP Texas senator questions 'legal theory' behind Trump's lawsuit, by John Bowden, The Hill, December 9, 2020]

●      He criticized Trump for giving a speech in Washington D.C. on January 6 and implied it stirred up the “lowest common denominator” to riot. [Sen. John Cornyn discusses Trump impeachment, Biden's immigration policy, by Anastasiya Bolton, KENS, January 22, 2021]

●      Cornyn attacked a Republican National Committee resolution that condemned the federal government’s persecution of peaceful January 6 demonstrators. In contrast to the RNC, the Texas senator felt that none of the demonstrators engaged in legitimate political discourse. [Cruz: Jan. 6 rioters are demonized. Cornyn: that wasn’t ‘legitimate political discourse’, by Todd J. Gillman, Dallas Morning News, February 7, 2022]

●      Cornyn initially supported Nancy Pelosi’s call for a “9/11-type investigation” of January 6. [https://twitter.com/johncornyn/status/1360749070369906693 ]

●      Cornyn refused to endorse Trump for re-election in 2018 when asked about it multiple times in 2018. He claimed he hadn’t given “any thought” to it. [Trump declared he’s running again. Many Republicans aren’t ready to back him., by Manu Raju, CNN, April 19, 2018]

Neocon Foreign Policy

●      Cornyn supported the Iraq War. He said it was an essential part of the War on Terror. [Cornyn: War In Iraq Is Part Of The War On Terror, John Cornyn Press Office, September 24, 2004]

●      Cornyn consistently opposed withdrawing American troops from Iraq, calling it “a policy of retreat; a policy of appeasement; a policy of surrender.” [Senate Debates Pulling U.S. Troops from Iraq. NPR, June 22, 2006]

●      He opposed congressional oversight of government contractors in Iraq and restricting funds for the war.

●      Cornyn authored a 2010 bill calling on America to push for regime change in Iran [Cornyn, Brownback introduce bill to back regime change in Iran, The Hill, February 15, 2010]

●      The senator has long supported severe sanctions against Iran. [Senate GOP ties Iran sanctions fight to defense bill, by Jordain Carney, The Hill, May 25, 2016]

●      Cornyn opposed congressional attempts to restrict the use of military force against Iran in 2020. [Cruz, Cornyn vote against bipartisan measure to limit Trump’s Iran war powers, by Tom Benning, Dallas Morning News, February 13, 2020]

●      Cornyn not only supported the U.S. intervention in Libya in 2011, he was the first senator to introduce a resolution calling on America to seek regime change in the North African country. His resolution pushed for the U.S. to use military force when then-President Barack Obama still opposed military force. [Cornyn to introduce resolution on Libyan regime change, by Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy, April 5, 2011]

●      Cornyn supports regime change in Syria and publicly supported a military intervention to replace the Assad government in 2013. [Cornyn's convenient change of heart, by Steve Benen, NBC, September 6, 2013]

●      Cornyn strongly opposed withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. He was one of the lead Republicans who derail Trump’s attempts to bring our forces home before he left office. “A precipitous retreat, which would reverse the progress we have made and fought so hard to make, is deeply troubling,” he said of Trump’s plan in November of 2020. [Trump allies more outraged than Democrats over his Afghanistan pullout, by James Hohmann, Washington Post, November 18, 2020]

●      Cornyn is one of the most prominent GOP cheerleaders of the War in Ukraine. He was one of the handful of Republican senators to travel to the war-torn nation and fawn over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He also advocated for giving Ukraine over $40 billion in taxpayer dollars. [Texas Senator John Cornyn travels to Ukraine, meets with Zelenskyy, by Deborah Gaines, CBS, May 16, 2022]

●      Cornyn also wants to escalate the conflict by allowing Poland, a NATO member, to supply Ukraine with fighter jets. The senator attacked President Biden for blocking the deal. [Texas Sens. Cruz and Cornyn rip Biden for blocking MiGs for Ukraine, by Todd J. Gillman, Dallas Morning News, March 16, 2022]