Sen. Ted Cruz is leading a conservative charge against holding a vote on President Obama’s attorney general nomination during the lame-duck session.
But the only real chance for the plan to succeed is if it stirs up enough grassroots anger that the Democratic majority loses its nerve.
New filibuster rules imposed last year by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., make it extremely difficult for Republicans to block the nominee until they win the majority and are sworn in.
But if Republicans do well in November, some red-state Democrats may want to avoid criticism over pushing through an Obama pick in the waning days of the session.
It’s unclear yet how much Cruz and others will make this an issue.
Other Senate Republicans have warned Obama not to jam through his nomination, though most stopped short of calling for an outright rejection of any lame-duck nominee.
“Rather than rush a nominee through the Senate in a lame-duck session, I hope the president will now take his time to nominate a qualified individual who can start fresh relationships with Congress so that we can solve the problems facing our country,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Meantime, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he will be “scrutinizing the president’s replacement nominee to ensure the Justice Department finally returns to prioritizing law enforcement over partisan concerns.”
Senate Democrats are standing their ground for now.
They countered that the president has the right to pick his own Cabinet and warned Cruz against playing politics with Obama’s nominees.
“This is going to be the first real test, whether it’s in the lame-duck or early in the new year, whether our Republican colleagues are going to continue to obstruct,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, according to the Washington Post. “Every president deserves to have his attorney general.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy. D-Vt., said he hopes a decision on Holder’s successor can be reached as soon as possible.
“I would hope that nobody would try to block an up-or-down vote on the chief law enforcement officer of the country,” Leahy told MSNBC. “It would be the height of irresponsibility.”
Speculation swirls on who that person will be, with the White House so far remaining mum.
“We don’t try to get out ahead of the president. I think he’s going to look at a range of candidates and a range of qualities,” said Obama’s longtime senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.
Solicitor General Donald Verrilli is among the most popular candidates. As the federal government’s top attorney, he has argued several high-profile cases on behalf of the administration before the Supreme Court. He also is a close confidant of Obama, having previously served as his deputy counsel.
But others expect the president to nominate a woman or minority, with Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, topping many people’s shortlist.
The Indian-American attorney has received glowing media coverage in New York for prosecuting some of the nation’s high-profile terrorism and Wall Street fraud cases, including a Time magazine cover story in 2012. And he has targeted organized crime and gone after former and current elected officials in corruption cases.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., are among the top female contenders being discussed.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Loretta Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and former White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler have been speculated as possible replacements for Holder.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick was also mentioned. The state’s first black governor has said he’s not interested in the job, but he still is at or near the top of many political handicappers shortlist.
