Reid vows to ‘force a vote’ on Lynch

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) vowed Thursday to “force a vote” on Loretta Lynch’s nomination for attorney general if Republicans in the upper chamber do not act soon.

“Now I want to say this to all your viewers, um, we’ve put up with this far too long and we’re going to need to have a vote on her very soon that’s created by [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell or I’ll create one,” Reid told MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show” in an interview airing Thursday night.

“I can still do that,” he continued. “I know parliamentary procedure around here and we’re going to put up with this for a little while longer but not much.”

{mosads}Host Rachel Maddow pressed him for specifics on whether he had a way to make Republicans take up her nomination.

“Absolutely we can force votes,” Reid said. “If we don’t get something done soon, I will force a vote.”

He said that he had spoken with Republicans and “told them really to get her done or I will make sure they will have an opportunity to vote against her.”

Under Senate rules, Reid could move to proceed to executive session. If the motion received a majority vote, he could then file cloture to bring up Lynch’s nomination. But it is unclear if Reid would have the support of 5 GOP senators to break away from consideration of the trafficking bill.

Lynch appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee in January but has been waiting for the full chamber to take up her nomination.

Sen. Mark Kirk (Ill.) became the fifth Republican to announce his support for Lynch earlier this month, seemingly giving her the votes needed to become the nation’s top law enforcement official.

Still, conservatives have taken issue with her support for President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

Her confirmation has also been held back by a fight over anti-abortion language in a bill to combat human trafficking. McConnell has said the chamber won’t take up Lynch’s nomination until it completes the anti-trafficking measure.

This story was updated at 4:04 p.m.