Loretta Lynch's nomination has been languishing on the Senate floor since February 26. In that time, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has found time to hold 95 roll call votes but somehow he just can't fit in a vote on the Lynch nomination. Why? Because he's holding Lynch's nomination hostage on a totally unrelated item that has nothing to do with her qualifications to be Attorney General.

Having been thoroughly vetted, Lynch was approved by a bipartisan majority of the Judiciary Committee seven weeks ago. She could and should have confirmed within a few days, as is customary for Attorney General nominees. Yet that hasn't happened. In fact, she has been waiting for a floor vote longer than the seven most recent attorneys general combined, a landmark she passed even before the Senate's two-week spring recess.

Since Lynch has been waiting for a floor vote, the Senate has taken 95 roll call votes. These have covered five bills, four executive nominations, one judicial nomination, one resolution of disapproval of an NLRB action, and one resolution on the budget. That last one is particularly worthy of note, because several dozen of the roll call votes were on non-binding amendments to a non-binding budget resolution.

McConnell held a veto override vote on the Keystone Pipeline bill, a major priority of some important Republican donors but not connected to the Lynch nomination. He held a roll call vote to repeal the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act, a major priority of the Tea Party base that had no chance of ever becoming law, and which has no connection to confirming Lynch. And he has held multiple roll call votes to force Democrats to accept abortion restrictions on women who are victims of human trafficking … which also has nothing to do with Lynch, except that McConnell has chosen that particular item as the ransom to demand in exchange for releasing his hostage.

McConnell needs to drop this ridiculous demand and allow a vote. The position of Attorney General of the United States is simply too important for such nonsense.