US attorney Loretta Lynch has emerged as the leading choice to be the next attorney general, but people with knowledge of his plans say President Barack Obama is not ready to announce a nomination and is abandoning any push for confirmation this year while Democrats still control the Senate.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest today said that Obama has not made a decision. People with knowledge of his thinking say he does not plan to announce a choice before returning from a trip to Asia next week and will leave it up to the Republican-controlled Senate to vote on the choice in 2015.
Lynch, the US attorney for Eastern New York, would be the first black female to lead the Justice Department and become the top US law enforcement official if she ends up being the choice.
The sources who described Obama's plans did so on condition of anonymity without authorisation to speak on the record.
Lynch, 55, would be Obama's second trail-blazing pick for the post after Eric Holder served as the nation's first black attorney general.
Democrats on Capitol Hill have told the White House it would be difficult to win confirmation before they turn over the Senate gavel at the end of the year, especially considering all the other competing priorities they are trying to complete while they are in power.
It's unusual for Obama to pick someone he doesn't know well for such a sensitive administration post. But at a time when Obama is under political fire, her distance from the president could be an asset in the confirmation process.
Lynch is seen as having little baggage or controversy as Republicans are promising tough scrutiny after years of battles with the long-serving Holder.
The current attorney general is close to Lynch and appointed her as chair of the committee that advises him on policy.
Since Lynch is unfamiliar to many in Congress, senators will have to quickly get up to speed on her record.
She's overseen bank fraud and other public corruption cases. She also charged reputed mobster Vincent Asaro and his associates for the 36-year-old heist of USD 6 million in cash and jewelry from a Lufthansa Airlines vault at Kennedy Airport, dramatised in the blockbuster movie "Goodfellas." There was no immediate response from Lynch's spokeswoman.
