Senate Dems press McConnell on Lynch nomination
Senate Democrats are using a snow day in Washington to redouble their efforts for a quick vote on Loretta Lynch’s nomination to be the next attorney general.
All 44 Democrats in the upper chamber, as well as independent Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Angus King (Maine), signed on to a letter Thursday to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), saying they “are troubled” by the delay in voting on Lynch’s nomination, which has been pending for 117 days.
{mosads}”No one questions that Ms. Lynch is qualified and ready to serve, yet we are troubled that her nomination continues to languish on the Senate floor,” the senators said in the letter.
Lynch’s nomination was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, where she received the support of three Republican senators.
Democrats suggested that it was that sort of bipartisan cooperation that has helped senators quickly confirm attorney general nominees in the past.
“As our nation’s top law enforcement official, the attorney general plays a pivotal role in administering our nation’s laws and protecting our national security,” the senators said.
Lynch, however, has drawn strong criticism from some Republicans, who have questioned her views on Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
Her nomination comes in the midst of an immigration fight on Capitol Hill that threatened to shut down the Department of Homeland Security. Separately, the administration is caught in a legal battle over the executive actions after they were temporarily blocked by a judge.
But Democrats suggested that despite those concerns, there is “no credible reason for further delay.”
“Although a narrow minority of the Senate may want to use Ms. Lynch’s floor vote to protest the immigration enforcement priorities announced last year by the administration, there is simply no credible reason for further delay,” they said.
“Our nation faces daily threats to our national security and we cannot afford to wait any longer to confirm our nation’s top law enforcement official.”
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