Senate Republican leaders said Tuesday that a vote on the confirmation of Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch would be postponed until Democrats end their filibuster of a human trafficking bill.
“We are going to come back and vote again and again and again on this human trafficking bill until it passes,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said after Democrats blocked the legislation Tuesday.
Cornyn said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will not schedule a vote on Lynch until the trafficking bill passes.
“Unfortunately that is what this place has degenerated into,” Cornyn said. “Everybody looking for leverage in order to get what they want.”
Cornyn said only two additional Democrats are needed to reach the 60 vote threshold that will allow the Senate to end debate and vote on final passage.
Democrats are blocking the bill over language prohibiting the use of restitution money for abortions except in the case of rape or threat to the mother’s health.
Cornyn said the provision has been part of existing law blocking federal funds to pay for abortions. Democrats raised an objection to the bill last week, even though 13 Democrats cosponsored the bill in January and it passed unanimously in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 2. Republicans believe outside pro-abortion groups including Planned Parenthood have pressured Democrats to withdraw their support.
Democrats held a press conference following their filibuster of the trafficking bill. They called on McConnell to schedule a vote on the Lynch nomination.
“Loretta Lynch’s nomination should be done immediately,” Reid said. “There’s no reason we can’t do this now.”
