Outrage among Democratic and Republican politicians continues to grow as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to schedule a date for attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch’s confirmation vote. Yesterday, a group of Black female leaders and clergy marched on Capitol Hill, praying for a vote and protesting the continuous delay.
More than 20 women, all participants of the Black Women’s Roundtable 2015 National Women of Power Summit, gathered in the Russell Senate Office Building, demanding to speak with McConnell. However, they were only able to speak with a top aide, who, according to protestor Minister Leslie Malachi, declined to speak on anything except a human trafficking bill—the very bill that is delaying the Senate’s vote on Lynch.
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“I found the response to be patronizing, condescending and an insult to our intelligence,” Malachi said to CNN of the 20-minute meeting. “There definitely was a script.”
Lynch, who would be the first Black female attorney general, was nominated by President Obama in November, but Republican senators have delayed her confirmation vote for 139 days. As of now, her vote isn’t expected until next month after Congress returns from its two-week Easter recess.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), who was present yesterday afternoon, said that she feels that the fact that Lynch is both Black and a woman are factors in the postponements.
“The perception is that her race and sex have an impact,” Jackson Lee said to CQ Roll Call. “Would anyone else be treated with a five-week delay, blaming it on a dispute of legislators over legislation?”