Loretta Lynch Isn't the Attorney General Yet Because the Senate Sucks
Loretta Lynch, the very qualified New York federal prosecutor who was nominated by President Obama in November to become the next attorney general, still hasn't been confirmed by the Senate. For some context: Lynch has waited twice as long for a vote than the seven most recent attorneys general combined. (Eric Holder's vote took eight days!)
So why has Lynch's vote been stalled on the Senate floor for five months? Because our government is full of grown babies who can't find equal footing on a human-trafficking bill that has nothing to do with the Brooklyn prosecutor.
According to the Washington Post:
For now, Ms. Lynch’s nomination remains stalled while senators fight a partisan war over abortion, a fight that has nothing to do with her. Democrats object to a human-trafficking bill that contains the so-called Hyde Amendment, which restricts government spending on abortion. Instead of passing by acclamation, as it would have done without the abortion controversy, the bill has been blocked by a Democratic filibuster. Lawmakers are looking for ways around the logjam that will placate the pressure groups up in arms over the Hyde language. Until that agreement is reached, Mr. McConnell won’t bring up the Lynch nomination.
...Ms. Lynch should get immediate floor consideration, regardless of how Thursday’s trafficking vote goes, and on her merits she should be confirmed handily.
Lynch has served as a chief prosecutor in New York since 2010, and will become the first black woman to command the Justice Department once Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his band of merry men get their act together. Isn't government fun?
[Image via Getty]