WH: Nominee to replace Eric Holder deserves 'better treatment'
Congress should hold a confirmation hearing for attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch before the end of the month, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday.
Earnest also said the White House wanted the Senate hold Lynchs confirmation vote before breaking for the Presidents Day holiday in mid-February.
"She deserves a lot better treatment than she is currently receiving," the White House spokesman told reporters traveling with the president aboard Air Force One, according to a report from Reuters.
Lynch, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, was nominated to replace Attorney General Eric Holder in early November.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said earlier this week that he aimed to hold the confirmation hearing either in the last week of January or early February.
In an interview with The Des Moines Register, Grassley said that the schedule would depend on whether they give us the information that we've asked for from the Justice Department.
That is definitely my goal, he continued. Now, if they can't help me meet my goal by giving us all the information we need, then I think they're delaying it, from that standpoint."
Grassley said he wanted documents related to Lynchs tenure as U.S. attorney, as well as a Justice Department legal analysis on the presidents ability to unilaterally release or transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees without giving Congress a months notice. Obama is required to do so under law, but the White House has called the rule unconstitutional and ignored it when trading detainees for the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by the Taliban.
The Senate has twice confirmed Lynch, each time for the same role: U.S. Attorney in both the Clinton and Obama Administrations. Holder has said he will remain in the job until Lynch is approved.
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WH: Nominee to replace Eric Holder deserves 'better treatment'