Senate compromise clears path for Lynch

The US Senate is set to move forward with its stalled vote on Loretta Lynch, Barack Obama's nominee for attorney-general, after reaching a compromise on a human trafficking bill that had bogged down lawmakers for weeks.

Democrats' frustration over the vote delay had grown over the past week, with the president blasting the "crazy situation." Ms Lynch's nomination has been held up for five months, the longest period an attorney-general nominee has had to wait for a confirmation vote.

The stalled nomination served as another symbol of the partisan bickering that has engulfed the Senate, despite a Republican goal of showing the party could govern after taking a majority in both houses in November's midterm elections.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had vowed not to hold a vote on Ms Lynch until lawmakers dealt with a bill to combat human trafficking. The Senate has been at an impasse for weeks because of fighting over a Republican provision in the bill that restricts abortion funding.

On Tuesday, Senate leaders announced a compromise that would set up two different programmes for funding services for trafficking victims, one of which would not be subject to the abortion restrictions.

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Ms Lynch, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, has been praised by both Democrats and Republicans for her qualifications, but Republican anger over President Obama's executive action protecting undocumented immigrants from deportation has cost her votes.

If she secures the 51 votes needed to be confirmed by the Senate as expected, Ms Lynch would be the first black woman to hold the position of the nation's top law enforcement official.

She would replace Eric Holder, who has had a contentious relationship with Republicans in Congress. Despite the agreement on the trafficking bill, the delay of Ms Lynch's confirmation vote has left bitterness in the Senate.

"After weeks of pointless stalling on the bipartisan human trafficking bill, our Republican colleagues have finally agreed to a path forward," Senate minority leader Harry Reid tweeted on Tuesday. "This agreement is good news. Let's now get Loretta Lynch confirmed quickly."

President Obama on Friday called the stalled nomination a "crazy situation" that was a symbol of Senate dysfunction. On Thursday, a spokesperson for Senate judiciary committee chairman Chuck Grassley said Democrats were to blame for the delay on Ms Lynch.

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