Senate advances Lake, Mastriano nominations, despite Cornyn threats

A Senate panel voted on Wednesday to advance the nominations of Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano for ambassadorships in Jamaica and Slovakia despite threats from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to torpedo both.

Cornyn had sought to secure funding for PEPFAR, a Bush-era AIDS relief program, in exchange for his vote. Nevertheless, the Senate panel approved the nominations, with all Republicans backing them for a floor vote, Politico reported.

The Texas senator did not appear to secure those concessions from the White House.

He previously lost his primary to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom Trump endorsed, citing Cornyn's inability to pass the SAVE America Act, a marquis voter ID bill.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.