Obama calls for Senate to confirm Loretta Lynch
He calls confirmation a ‘crazy’ process
WASHINGTON — President Obama implored the Senate to approve his nominee for attorney general Friday, calling Loretta Lynch’s confirmation process “crazy” and “embarrassing.” Obama nominated Lynch on Nov. 8 to replace Attorney General Eric Holder.
“And I have to say, there are times where the dysfunction in the Senate just goes too far. This is an example of it.”
WASHINGTON President Obama implored the Senate to approve his nominee for attorney general Friday, calling Loretta Lynch’s confirmation process “crazy” and “embarrassing.”
“What are we doing here?” Obama said in a tone at once animated and exasperated. “There’s no reason for it. Nobody can de- scribe a reason for it beyond political gamesmanship in the Senate, on an issue that’s completely unrelated to her.”
“And I have to say, there are times where the dysfunction in the Senate just goes too far,” he said. “This is an example of it. Enough — call Loretta Lynch for a vote.”
The Lynch nomination is bogged down in a debate over a human-trafficking bill.
Senate Republican leaders say they will vote on Lynch after Democrats lift their objections to the bill, which carries a longstanding amendment prohibiting the use of taxpayer funding for abortion.
Obama nominated Lynch, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, on Nov. 8 to replace Attorney General Eric Holder.
Democrats controlled the Senate until January.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, RIowa, says Democrats are responsible for at least part of the delay, focusing on getting judges confirmed last year instead of the attorney general nominee.
“It was Lynch or judges,” said Beth Levine, a Grassley spokeswoman. “They chose judges.”
But Obama noted that the Lynch nomination has waited twice as long as the previous seven attorney general nominees combined.
Obama recited a litany of Lynch’s qualifications, saying she had prosecuted terrorists and street gangs, had the support of civil rights and police groups, and was a good manager.
“Nobody suggests otherwise,” he said.
President Obama