Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said he will back the nomination of Dawn Johnsen, Obama’s pick to head the Office of Legal Counsel, The Journal Gazette reports.
Lugar is the first Republican to break from his party on Johnsen, a law professor at Indiana University. Leading Republicans including Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona have criticized Johnsen for her position on abortion rights and her strong disapproval of Bush administration legal memos used to justify torture against suspected terrorists.
We previously reported that Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) have said they will not vote in favor of her nomination. Democrats still need two Republican votes to have a filibuster-proof majority if the disputed Minnesota Senate race remains unresolved. These two votes could come from Moderate Maine Republicans Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, who have not said if they will support Johnsen.
