Lynch's nomination has not yet provoked a major outcry from Republicans. Hearings on Lynch likely to wait

Senate Democrats appear increasingly likely to punt confirmation proceedings for attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch into next year, a move that would appease Republicans who want the fight to wait until they hold the majority.

Senior Senate Democratic and White House aides say they are reluctant to provoke a process fight with the newly empowered Republicans. No final decision has been made, but several Democrats privately believe that there might not be enough time to confirm Lynch in the lame-duck session, anyway.


While Lynch has yet to be thoroughly vetted for the job, her nomination has not provoked a major outcry from Republicans, a sign she still stands a strong shot at being approved even in a GOP-led Senate — unless she trips up during her confirmation hearings.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee that will consider the nomination, is not making Lynch’s confirmation his top priority in the remainder of the year. Instead, Leahy is pushing hard to enact the USA Freedom Act, a sweeping overhaul of domestic surveillance programs that proponents fear would die next year if it doesn’t pass while Democrats control the Senate.

( Also on POLITICO: The GOP plan for Lynch: It's all about immigration)

Added to the hurdles: The White House has yet to formally send over the papers associated with the Lynch nomination, meaning the bureaucratic work of considering the nomination has yet to begin in earnest, let alone the nominee’s own one-on-one meetings with senators.

With limited time to act this Congress, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) appears more eager to enact a must-pass omnibus spending bill, a defense policy measure and scores of President Barack Obama’s executive and judicial nominations that have long been awaiting action.

One Democratic leadership aide said Reid’s approach will be “pretty deferential” to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who will be able to dictate the chamber’s agenda starting in January. In addition to potentially holding off on Lynch, the aide said, Reid also will open up the amendment process on the defense policy bill and avoid blocking GOP votes by “filling the tree,”a tactic Republicans have long complained about. (Reid wants Leahy to try to attach his surveillance bill to the defense measure on the Senate floor.)

The White House has said it’s up to the Senate leadership to decide when to process the nomination — so the decision on when to vote would be Reid’s and Leahy’s alone. If Senate Democrats were to move on the nomination in the lame-duck session, they would be blamed by the GOP — and potentially the White House — for single-handedly invoking a partisan fight.

Right now, there doesn’t seem to be “the stomach” for a partisan fight over Lynch after Democrats were shellacked at the polls last week, one aide said. Administration officials are eager for Lynch to be confirmed by a strong bipartisan majority, and some Democrats believe those prospects, ironically, improve in a GOP Senate.

Another top Democratic aide added: “Traditionally, AG nominations have taken longer than the amount of time we have in the lame duck.”

No final decisions will be made before Thursday when the full Democratic Caucus will debate the way forward in the lame-duck and in the new Congress. Still, some Democratic senators have pushed for swift confirmation of Lynch.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said it’s his “personal, strong preference” to finish the nomination before year’s end.

“I think it should be considered when it will be considered most favorably,” Blumenthal said. “That’s a judgment for the leadership to make in consulting with our Republican colleagues.”

Punting on Lynch presents a risk for both parties. If Democrats moved in the lame-duck session, her confirmation would be virtually assured, since their party still maintains 55 seats in the chamber, and it now takes just 51 to overcome a filibuster on a nomination after Reid moved to change the rules last year.

But next year, Republicans will likely have 54 seats, meaning if the party stays mostly united against her, the U.S. attorney’s chances of confirmation for attorney general would darken.

Still, officials in both parties said, Republicans are reticent to block Lynch’s nomination right off the bat, as the party tries to show it has a responsible, governing agenda and as the White House touts her history-making nomination as the first black woman to lead the department. Yet if Republicans let her nomination sail through, McConnell could get attacked from his base for failing to block the new head of an Obama Justice Department that has come under frequent criticism from the right.

How she performs at her confirmation hearings — and responds to GOP questions over executive power and the White House’s moves on immigration — could make all the difference if her nomination slips into next year.

Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.