The White House blasted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday for delaying a vote on attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch, questioning the Republican’s ability to manage the Senate after a rocky start in this session of Congress.
Mr. McConnell had planned to vote on Ms. Lynch this week but said this weekend that he would put that on hold until Democrats withdraw their objections, end their filibuster and help pass a bill against human trafficking that has stalled over a narrow abortion provision.
Ms. Lynch, a federal prosecutor in New York, would be the first black woman to serve as attorney general. If a confirmation vote isn’t held this week, she may have to wait until mid-April before she returns to the schedule.
“It’s an unconscionable delay,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. “There’s not a single legitimate question that has been raised about her aptitude for this job. Instead, all we’ve seen is a bunch of political obstruction from Republicans that … does not speak well of Republicans’ efforts to run the Senate.”
Mr. McConnell’s moves and the White House’s heated reaction underscore the strained relations between the White House and Republicans who control both chambers on Capitol Hill. Mr. McConnell has said he wants to return the Senate to a more open legislative process and roll back some of the tactics Democrats used during their time in the majority, but he has been met with filibusters and other roadblocks.
Democrats say Mr. McConnell has bungled his handling of the Senate.
“You’ve got to hand it to Republicans, that they’ve taken even a measure as common sense as that and turned it into a partisan controversy,” Mr. Earnest said. “That is not a reflection of a flaw in the bill. It’s a reflection of inept leadership.”
McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said the Senate would move more swiftly if Democrats weren’t holding up the human-trafficking legislation.
“If the White House spent half as much time trying to end their party’s filibuster of a bill aimed at curbing sex trafficking as they do trash-talking, the Senate could pass a bipartisan bill and help thousands of kids who are in danger,” Mr. Stewart said. “Sadly, the White House has yet to lift a finger to get this bill passed.”
Both sides accuse each other of breaking promises. Republicans are seething over Mr. Obama’s immigration moves in November, when he granted a deportation amnesty to as many as 4 million illegal immigrants, despite saying for years that he didn’t have the power to do so.
Meanwhile, the delay on Ms. Lynch’s nomination agitated Mr. Obama and his advisers. Mr. Earnest called into question whether Mr. McConnell is trustworthy.
“I get asked a lot about whether or not Sen. McConnell was a man of his word and whether or not he’s willing to live up to commitments that he makes to the president of the United States,” Mr. Earnest said, asserting that Mr. McConnell was not acting in good faith.
Mr. Obama nominated Ms. Lynch last year, but Republicans and Democrats agreed to push consideration into the current session of Congress, with Republicans in control of the process. Ms. Lynch’s nomination cleared the Judiciary Committee last month but has stalled since then. The last handful of nominees have moved much faster from committee to floor.
Republicans are in a curious position of wanting Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to go, but they must confirm Ms. Lynch to take his place.
Many Republican senators have signaled that they will oppose Ms. Lynch. They said she didn’t do enough to show she would be an independent voice when Mr. Obama oversteps his executive authority.
Although she ducked a number of thorny questions at her confirmation hearing, Ms. Lynch defended Mr. Obama’s immigration moves, saying the administration’s legal explanation seemed reasonable. A federal court has disagreed and issued an injunction halting the amnesty. The Justice Department has appealed that injunction.
The Lynch delay is another sign of the increasing difficulty of getting anything accomplished on Capitol Hill. Mr. McConnell thought the human trafficking bill would be an exception because it has a number of Democratic co-sponsors and cleared the Judiciary Committee on a unanimous vote.
Democrats said they belatedly discovered a provision preventing penalties collected from human traffickers to be spent on abortions — the so-called Hyde amendment language that generally prevents federal funds paying for the procedure — and began a filibuster.
Sen. John Cornyn, the Texas Republican who wrote the trafficking bill, called the filibuster “shameful.”
The Senate plans to hold key test votes Tuesday morning to try to overcome the Democratic filibuster.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.