Republicans delay Loretta Lynch, accuse Democrats of âfaux outrageâ
Senate Republicans on Thursday defended their handling of Loretta Lynchâs nomination for attorney general amid mounting Democratic criticism that the GOP is unnecessarily slow-walking her confirmation. The Judiciary Committee officially held over Lynchâs nomination on Thursday, kicking her confirmation vote until after next weekâs congressional recess. Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said that âunfortunately,â Lynch did not provide âvery many responsiveâ answers to her 200-plus-pages of written questions. Story Continued Below âNow, I know thereâs a lot of pressure to answer these questions quickly, but that doesnât excuse the incomplete answers,â Grassley said. âA nominee to be attorney general should take time to familiarize herself with the important issues the Department of Justice faces.â The defenses of the process came from Republicans who support Lynchâs confirmation and those who have expressed their opposition. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, one of Lynchâs most prominent GOP supporters and a former chairman of the panel, said the committee has long had the rule that any member can hold over business for a week. He called Grassley âone of the most fair people I knowâ and added, âI donât see any reason for the fuss made here.â âThis is a case of faux outrage if I ever saw one,â said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the second-ranking Senate Republican. He plans to oppose Lynch. The delay for Lynch, whoâs now the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, means she wonât see a committee vote until probably Feb. 26, which would put her on the full Senate floor in March. She is poised to clear the panel; Republicans such as Hatch, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have signaled their support. Democrats have pushed for faster action, arguing that Lynch should not be held up because of the broader dispute over President Barack Obamaâs immigration policies. But several GOP senators say they canât support a nominee who believes the latest executive actions on immigration, which could affect as many as 5 million immigrants, are legal. Democrats were quick to come to Lynchâs defense on Thursday. Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the committeeâs top Democrat, repeatedly said he believed Lynch was being held to a âdouble standardâ â noting the Senate cleared former Attorney General Michael Mukasey in 53 days during the George W. Bush administration. âI guess, because sheâs a woman, what I kind of object to is that she is singled out in what I hope would be some reciprocity,â added Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). She ran down several numbers for how long it took to confirm former attorneys general: Janet Reno took 29 days, John Ashcroft took 42, Alberto Gonzales took 86, Mukasey took 53, Eric Holder took 64. So far, Lynch has taken 96 days. However, the number for Lynch is high partly because Senate Democrats agreed to push her confirmation into the new GOP-led Senate, rather than taking it up in the lame-duck session when they were still in power. Obama nominated Lynch in November. Though the drama over Lynchâs confirmation has been dominated by immigration and broader issues involving Holder, one senator raised another topic that has popped up in recent days. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who has long said he will vote against Lynch, noted that one of the reasons he asked for the nomination to be held over is new reports about the practices of the banking giant HSBC. As a federal prosecutor, Lynch helped secure a 2012 settlement with HSBC. As part of her written responses that she submitted earlier this week, she said the bank could face more Justice Department action if it is found to have violated more laws, such as tax evasion. The deferred prosecution agreement as part of that settlement dealt with violations of the Bank Secrecy Act for failures to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering program, she noted in the responses.