U.S. Democrats pressure Senate Republican chief for vote on attorney general

U.S. Senate Democrats on Thursday pressed Senate Republican chief Mitch McConnell to schedule a vote for the confirmation of U.S. President Barack Obama's pick for attorney general.

Loretta Lynch, the current U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, was nominated by Obama in November to replace Eric Holder as the next justice chief. Democrats have long been criticizing the Republican-controlled Senate for deliberately slow-walking Lynch's confirmation.

"No one questions that Ms. Lynch is qualified and ready to serve, yet we are troubled that her nomination continues to languish on the Senate floor," said a letter to Senate Majority Leader McConnell, signed by all members of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

As the partisan fight over Obama's contested 2014 executive actions on immigration intensified, the nomination of Lynch, who vocally supported Obama's immigration policies, became bogged down.

The letter noted that Lynch's nomination had been pending for 117 days by Thursday, making her the longest pending attorney general nominee in three decades.

Lynch passed her confirmation vote by 12-8 last week, with three Republicans in the committee backing her nomination. To pass the final nomination vote on the full Senate floor, Lynch would just need a simple majority voting in favor of her. However, that would still be hard, considering public statements by most of the Republican Senators opposing her nomination.

If confirmed, Lynch will be the country's first black female attorney general. Enditem