In the race for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Presidential Election, it was between then-Illinois Senator Barack Obama and New York Senator Hillary Clinton. It was a long and hard fought battle between Obama and Clinton. At the end of the Democratic primary, it was Obama that came out victorious. There were talks about possibly picking Clinton as the running-mate. However, Obama’s pick was then-Delaware Senator and former Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden.
He would go up against GOP rival Senator John McCain of Arizona. On Election Day of November 2008, it was Obama that came out victorious. After winning the U.S. Presidency, Obama started to fill in posts for his administration. He picked Clinton to be the U.S. Secretary of State. However, there were legalities that had to be processed due to the work of the Clinton Global Initiative spearheaded by her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
So far, Clinton is expected to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Last week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 16-1 in favor of Clinton. However, there was one lone vote of opposition from Senator David Vitter of Louisiana. Vitter cited his reasons of a conflict of interests because of the dealings of Bill Clinton. However, Vitter did have good things to say about Hillary Clinton.
Today, Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas is voicing opposition to Clinton’s confirmation. It is for the same reasons that Vitter has stated in the previous week. Cornyn is planning to block Clinton’s confirmation. However, it is believed that Clinton will still get strong bipartisan support in regards to the confirmation.
Cornyn is concerned about the dealings of the Clinton Global Initiative. He stated that that Clinton’s responses to her husband’s post-Presidential work are not good enough. Other Senate Republicans also voiced their concerns about the same thing.
While there is the strong indication that Clinton will get unanimous support, she probably will not get confirmed immediately let alone today.