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FILE: June 11, 2012: Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at the League of Women Voters National Convention in Washington.(AP)

WASHINGTON Republicans' big midterm wins throw a potential curveball at President Obama as he weighs his replacement for outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder -- forcing him to decide whether to introduce a nominee during the lame-duck session or take his chances with a more hostile Senate majority after January.

A short list of contenders already is making the media rounds. But perhaps the more pressing question is when Obama will make his move. With Republicans winning the Senate majority, Obama could have a tougher time if he waits until next year to nominate someone.

However, he also could inflame tensions by pressing ahead in a lame-duck session -- at a time when both sides claim to be giving cooperation a shot.

Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal analyst at Heritage Foundation, suggested the timing might depend on whether Obama pushes someone with political baggage.

"I think if he has someone in mind who might be at all controversial, he won't have any trouble getting [Democratic Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid to push it through the lame-duck session," he said.

So far, missing from the apparent short list are some of the more colorful and familiar names who surfaced in the wake of Holder's resignation announcement -- like outgoing Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. The three reported to be in the running, according to unnamed White House sources: Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, and current Labor Secretary Thomas Perez.

Last week, Holder, who announced his departure in September, told a reporter that he expects to stay on until early February. Prior reports, though, signaled the White House might try and replace him shortly after the election.

I dont know if there are any [nominees] that Republicans would speedily or readily confirm, said Sarah Binder, congressional expert at the Brookings Institution, who believes the two-month lame duck session may be too crowded with budget and spending priorities to properly vet and channel a nominee through the dangerous shoals of a Senate confirmation.

So its possible, she said, that these restraints will lead to the White House saying well just have to find a nominee come January, and that it will be a hard road but well find a nominee who will be a bit more acceptable to Republicans.

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Speculation swirls over timing, pick for Holder replacement

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has offered high praise to St. Louis University President Fred Pestello, commending him for his handling of last month's Occupy SLU protest.

In a letter delivered to the university late last month, Holder called Pestello's leadership, nothing short of exemplary" in his managing of the Occupy SLU protest.

Occupy SLU was an outgrowth of wider protests of police shootings that have taken hold in the area since the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson.

Organized by students and a number of community groups, more than 1,000 people gathered in front of the university's clock tower on the first night of the protests.

In the following days, Occupy SLU turned into an encampment with roughly two dozen protesters living in tents advocating for equality and racial justice.

Protesters, some of whom were students, stayed in their tents for nearly a week before reaching an agreement with Pestello to end the encampment.

The negotiations were among Pestello, the university's Black Student alliance, a protest group called Tribe X and the Metro St. Louis Coalition for Inclusion and Equity, or M-SLICE.

Among the items in the agreement is a larger budget for SLU's African-American Studies program, more money to keep minority students from dropping out; and the establishment of a K-12 bridge program to increase the number of college-bound children in the Normandy and Shaw neighborhooods.

Holder's letter to Pestello credited the university president with confronting simmering conflicts in the St. Louis area and helping to reduce tensions.

Amid reports of continuing conflict, your steady hand, your respect to everyone involved, and your fidelity to the rule of law, as well as the Jesuit values that define the institution you lead have enabled you to bring about a constructive and nonviolent resolution to the encampment at St. Louis University, Holder wrote.

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Attorney General Eric Holder praises SLU president for handling of campus protest

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
Interview with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Interviewer: Opinion Writer, The Washington Post, and Contributor, MSNBC, Jonathan Capehart. The Washington ...

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Attorney General Eric Holder smiles during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, Nov. 3, 2014. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) more >

Attorney General Eric Holder tipped his disdain for Rep. Darrell Issa and his legislative cohorts on the Fast and Furious investigation, outright slamming the representatives as idiots on a political witchhunt, according to a just-surfaced email.

The email chain was part of the thousands of documents Mr. Holders Justice Department released on the eve of the election.

It begins with Matthew Axelrod, the then-associate deputy attorney general, explaining that Mr. Issas House Oversight Committee was planning to subpoena a witness to testify about the federal governments Fast and Furious gun-running scandal, The Blaze reported.

SEE ALSO: Election eve surprise: DOJ belatedly releases Fast & Furious documents

Another Department of Justice official, Gary Grindler, then wrote: This keeps escalating, The Blaze reported.

And then Mr. Holder weighed in: Ok. We have to be careful. His decision has to truly be his. If he testifies so be it. Issa and his idiot cronies never gave a damn about this when all that was happening was that thousands of Mexicans were being killed with guns from our country. All they want to do in reality is cripple ATF and suck up to the gun lobby. Politics at its worst maybe the media will get it.

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Eric Holder writes of 'Issa and his idiot cronies' in Fast and Furious investigation email