Attorney General

Loretta Lynch's nomination for attorney general moves forward

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Loretta Lynch

Loretta Lynch

The U.S. Senate has scheduled a Thursday vote on the nomination of Loretta Lynch to replace Eric Holder as attorney general.

Lynch’s nomination moved forward after the Senate reached a deal on a human trafficking bill, report the New York Times, the Associated Press and the National Law Journal. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had refused to schedule a vote on Lynch’s nomination until passage of the bill.

Democrats had objected because a provision in the trafficking bill barred money in a victims’ fund from being used to pay for abortions. The compromise creates two funding streams, one of which does not ban abortion funding.

The Times warns that other proposed amendments could delay the trafficking bill, while the Associated Press reports that the legislation “looks likely to pass by a wide margin Wednesday afternoon.”

Lynch was nominated for attorney general in November.

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