Top Senate Republican Barrasso warns against lame duck Holder replacement

Published September 29, 2014

The simmering bipartisan battle over whether the Senate will try to swiftly replace retiring Attorney General Eric Holder heated up Sunday, with a top Senate Republican saying such a move would show the desperation Democrats feel about possibly losing control next month of the upper chamber.

It does need to wait, Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, chairman of the Senates Republican Policy Committee, told Fox News Sunday." I am opposed to any successor during the lame-duck session.

Political analysts essentially give Republicans a slightly more than 50 percent chance of winning a net total of six seats on Nov. 4 to take control of the Senate. However, the GOP would not officially take over the chamber until January.

Barrasso said if the Democrat-controlled Senate appoints a President Obama nominee it will mark the first time since the Civil War that an attorney general has been appointed in a so-called lame duck session -- the period between when new senators are elected and the other party takes control of the chamber.

Though Republicans are no fans of Holder, Barrasso said any attempt by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to swiftly replace him would be the final act is his failed leadership of the chamber.

Holder, who resigned on Thursday, is the countrys first black attorney general and is considered an unflinching champion of civil rights in enforcing the nation's laws.

He led the Justice Department since the first days of Obama's presidency and is the fourth-longest serving attorney general in U.S. history.

However, he has faced strong criticism during his tenure -- at times bipartisan -- for a succession of controversies including a failed plan to try terrorism suspects in New York City, the botched gun-running probe along the Southwest border that prompted Republican calls for his resignation, and what was seen as a failure to hold Wall Street accountable for the financial system's near-meltdown.

The Republican-controlled House voted two years ago to make Holder the first sitting Cabinet member to be held in contempt of Congress -- for refusing to turn over documents in the gun-running operation known as Operation Fast and Furious. The administration is still fighting in court to keep the documents confidential.

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Top Senate Republican Barrasso warns against lame duck Holder replacement