White House calls delay on confirming Loretta Lynch 'unconscionable'

President Obama's attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch has been in limbo for 128 days now, a situation White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest says is due to Senate Republicans "playing politics."

"It's an unconscionable delay," Earnest said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said that Senate Democrats' refusal to pass a controversial human trafficking bill, being held up because of language that restricts abortion, "will have an impact on the timing of considering a new attorney general."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Lynch's confirmation was again stalled last week when Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) announced he would investigate her role in the HSBC Swiss Bank's tax-dodging scheme.

Politico reports that Lynch, who would be the first black woman to serve as U.S. attorney general, is in danger of losing the support of "wavering Republicans" the longer the confirmation process drags out, and that if she is confirmed, it's likely it would be with the fewest 'yes' votes in history.