John Cornyn (R-Texas)

Texas Supreme Court

When he ran for Texas Supreme Court in 1990, Cornyn wasn’t the choice candidate of the Republicans, but he won anyway. He became part of a Republican majority that often ruled for defendants in tort cases, cutting back on large payoffs in malpractice suits. One of his most famous rulings is also one of his most surprising, and most upsetting, to Texas Republicans. In 1995, Cornyn wrote a majority opinion upholding the constitutionality of the Texas school system’s “Robin Hood” strategy of taking money from districts with high property taxes and using it for schools in areas with lower property taxes.

In 1997, Cornyn decided to give up his Texas Supreme Court seat to run for attorney general. Again, he was not the favorite candidate of the Republican Party. “He took on basically the establishment within the party,” said Jim Lunz, a longtime political consultant in San Antonio.Falkenberg, Lisa, “Before ‘Team Bush,' Cornyn cut his own path through Texas politics,” The Associated Press, Oct. 16, 2002 While then-Gov. George W. Bush won a second term with 69 percent of the vote, Cornyn became the state’s first Republican attorney general since Reconstruction. He has said that his proudest accomplishment as Texas’ top lawyer was cracking down on parents who weren’t paying their child support.Lee, Christopher, “Wary of ‘being like a judge,’ Cornyn aims to assert identity; Supporters tout soft spoken candidate’s performance as AG,” Dallas Morning News, June 6, 2002 Cornyn also argued two cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

2002 Senate Race

When then-Sen. Gramm announced his retirement in 2002, Cornyn jumped on the opportunity to run for Senate. He ran against Ron Kirk, a popular Democratic mayor from Dallas. Kirk had a difficult primary while Cornyn had no serious opposition. He had the support of President Bush, who was very popular at the time, and tied himself closely to the president’s policies.Biographical and career data taken from Almanac of American Politics, 2008 edition, and John Cornyn official Web site

Once in the Senate, Cornyn quickly became an important figure, serving on the Judiciary and Armed Services committees. Though he is the junior senator, he has often taken the lead on national issues and focused less on state programs. After the 2006 elections, his colleague, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R), who was vice chair of the Senate Republican Conference at the time, took a step back into the role of GOP Policy Committee chair and Cornyn moved into her old slot.Ratcliffe, R.G., “Cornyn sets sights on rising in Senate; Race against Noriega low on his priority list,” Houston Chronicle, Aug. 4, 2008

He replaced Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) as NRSC chairman after the 2008 elections.

Judicial Nominations and Attorney General Firings

When President Bush announced Justice John Roberts as his nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Cornyn backed Roberts 100 percent. When the president announced former White House counsel Harriet Miers as his second nominee, Cornyn again was a strong supporter. And when that nomination failed, Cornyn criticized those who doubted Miers, but supported the nomination of Samuel Alito just the same.

He was a key Bush ally during the contentious fight over both circuit court and Supreme Court nominations, vigorously backing all of Bush’s Supreme Court nominees. He said he thought Justice Roberts could “hit the ground running,” and dubbed reports that he was a member of the Federalist Society as being “an overreaction.”Levine, Samantha, “Cornyn has high marks for nominee Roberts; Senator calls criticism circling the judge’s link to Federalist Society ‘an overreaction,” Houston Chronicle, July 26, 2005 When Miers was nominated, Cornyn said criticism from the right was “premature,” and he predicted a smooth confirmation process.Martin, Gary, “Cornyn sees smooth sailing for Miers,” San Antonio Express-News, Oct. 6, 2005

After a handful of U.S. attorneys were fired in 2006, allegedly for political reasons, many Democrats called for then-Attorney General Gonzales to be fired and for top White House aides to appear before Congress. Cornyn initially backed the administration from his perch on the Judiciary Committee, accusing Democrats of playing politics with the subpoenas of White House aides. He ultimately criticized Gonzales and the administration’s handling of the situation and supported hearings to investigate the matter, but he continued to oppose subpoenas of White House e-mails, and testimony from Karl Rove and Harriet Miers. ''I'll join Senator [Patrick] Leahy in getting to the facts and following the facts where they may lead,'' he said. But he warned of falling ''into basically a political witchhunt.”Stolberg, Sheryl Gay, “Senator insists that Bush aides testify publicly,” The New York Times, March 19, 2007 He opposed the decision by the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold Rove and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton in contempt of Congress in December 2007.“Senate panel finds Rove, Bolten in contempt,” Austin American-Statesman (Texas), Dec. 14, 2007
 

Immigration

Cornyn co-authored an expansive 2005 immigration bill  that was one of his few major breaks with George W. Bush, who supported a more lenient bill to allow guest workers to stay in the U.S. and work toward citizenship. Cornyn’s bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), would have required illegal immigrants to return to their home countries before re-applying to be a guest worker or a permanent U.S. resident. The bill would have fined immigrants who didn’t leave.Levine, Samantha, “Cornyn bill includes a guest worker program; Consideration of immigration plan likely to be pushed back by debate on high court nominee,” Houston Chronicle, July 20, 2005 Cornyn’s bill was not very popular and did not pass.

Later, when he was working on another immigration bill in 2007, Cornyn got into a heated argument with Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) that involved cursing over a provision that Cornyn thought would allow criminals to become U.S. citizens.Lightman, David and Stearns, Matt, “McCain’s history of hot temper raises concerns,” Knight Ridder, distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Services, Sept. 3, 2008
 

The Economy

Cornyn reluctantly supported the $700 billion bailout in the fall of 2008. Before the Senate voted on the bill, Cornyn said, “I have serious reservations about asking those who played by the rules to bear the burden of those who made irresponsible and risky financial decisions.”“Texas lawmakers remain skeptical of Paulson’s bailout plan,” Dallas Business Journal, Sep. 23, 2008 But when the bill finally came up for a vote, Cornyn felt like he needed to vote for it to protect average citizens.Anthony, Paul, “Cornyn: Bailout imperfect but needed,” San Angelo Standard-Times (Texas), Oct. 5, 2008
 

FOIA

Cornyn, who got a degree in journalism, was a strong supporter of the Freedom of Information Act even before joining the Senate. As Texas attorney general, he dramatically improved the rate of response for Freedom of Information requests, and he was presented with an award for efforts to promote open government.Gonzalez, John W., “Attorney general commits to enforcing open records,” Houston Chronicle, Oct. 10, 1999

Then, in the Senate in 2005, he worked across the aisle with Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) to propose a bill to curb neglected FOIA requests. The bill required FOIA-exempted provisions to be explicitly stated and mandated a response within three weeks.Nelson, Suzanne, “Senators offer tightly focused FOIA bill,” Roll Call, June 9, 2005