WASHINGTON (AP) — A presidential nominee is defending his decision as Kansas governor to scrap an order that barred discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Sam Brownback is in line to be ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. The Republican was testifying on Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
A 2007 executive order applied to hiring and employment decisions by agencies under the Kansas governor’s direct control.
Brownback says the Democratic governor at that time, Kathleen Sebelius, acted unilaterally on an issue that state lawmakers should have resolved.
LGBT-rights groups have decried Brownback’s nomination because of his conservative views on issues such as same-sex marriage.
The former senator has made Kansas an economic laboratory for the nation by aggressively cutting taxes.
I saw that nameplate… and had to run for the trashcan …
For an instant when I saw that I though it read, ‘made Kansas an economic lobotomy…’
Which is not so far off the mark.
You Sammy needs to stay in Kansas and live with what he wrought. No sneaking off to a think tank, no high paying gig with a DC law firm, just let him hang up his shingle again in Kansas.