After a long delay that has infuriated supporters of attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch, a bipartisan group of senators may be close to agreement on a deal that would lead to a vote on her confirmation soon
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell first told CNN’s “State of the Union” weeks ago that Lynch’s confirmation by the full Senate would not come until the chamber completes consideration of a now-controversial human trafficking bill.
That legislation had bipartisan support until Democrats discovered Republicans had added an anti-abortion provision they oppose. Several procedural votes to end debate on the measure have failed and a new vote that had been scheduled for Thursday morning was first postponed and then canceled altogether as members from both parties tried to find a way forward.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is working behind the scenes to tweak the abortion language in the bill to win enough Democratic support to overcome a filibuster and pave the way for a vote on Lynch, a senior Republican aide told CNN.
Cornyn said on the Senate floor Thursday he is “more optimistic” than he has been in a long time and Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan echoed that view.
“We are involved right now in active negotiations,” Stabenow told reporters. “We have presented a wide variety of alternatives. At the moment it looks like there is a serious possibility of coming to agreement. We don’t know yet, but there are active discussions going on which is why I’m assuming the vote was delayed.”
At issue is Republicans’ insistence that the anti-abortion provision banning the use of public funds for abortions remain in the bill, even though it would apply to victims’ compensation fund that does not include taxpayer dollars. Republicans argue the money collected from human trafficking perpetrators for the fund is considered government money and should not be allowed to be used for abortions, a position that has angered Democrats like Reid, who believe the move to expand restrictions on abortions sets a bad precedent.
Now, a Democrat involved in the talks tells CNN the compromise has to do with making the money flow in a way that makes Democrats feel comfortable that they are not setting a new precedent. To do that, negotiators are discussing taking the money the government seizes from perpetrators of human trafficking and making it flow into a general appropriations fund already subject to so-called Hyde restrictions, which means no government money can be used for abortions except in the case of rape or incest.
The impasse over a bill unrelated to Lynch, who would be the first African-American woman to head the Department of Justice, has upset her supporters who have held a series of events urging McConnell to schedule a vote, from press conferences and conference calls to praying outside the Kentucky senator’s leadership office in the U.S. Capitol. Some supporters are even embarking on a one-day-a-week fast until she is confirmed.
Lynch, who was nominated in November, has enough Republican support to win confirmation and the Senate has been able to confirm nominees for other posts during the period she has been waiting.
The pressure to schedule a vote is mounting, with Valerie Jarrett, a top adviser to President Barack Obama, tweeting Thursday: “Loretta Lynch has waited 2x as long on the Senate floor for a vote than the 7 most recent AGs combined.”
Jarrett linked to a Washington Post editorial, also being circulated by Senate Democrats, slamming what it called the “unconscionably shabby treatment the Senate has shown to Loretta Lynch.”
“There’s no principled reason to link Ms. Lynch’s nomination to the passage of the trafficking bill,” wrote the paper’s editorial board.
“The confirmation battles of the past several years have harmed the country,” the editorial continued. “Some who should have been confirmed have instead become political victims and turned away from government service.”