GOP Floats Plan to Break Lynch Logjam

Senate Republican leaders are offering a way out of a bitter battle over a bill against human trafficking that has left the chamber gridlocked and threatened to indefinitely hold up Loretta Lynch’s confirmation vote for the attorney general post. But Democrats responded coolly, saying the proposal still has unacceptable restrictions on abortion.
Lynch, who was nominated by President Barack Obama to replace Eric Holder at the Justice Department in November, has been stalled in recent days because of an unrelated fight over an abortion provision in a bill aimed at cracking down on human trafficking. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused to take up Lynch’s nomination until Democrats relent on their objections over the trafficking bill.
On Thursday, senior Senate Republicans said they had a solution. The original bill creates a restitution fund that is bankrolled by fines slapped on traffickers, with a key restriction on using that money for abortions. The compromise suggested from Republicans would instead route the money through the federal government accounts before going to victims, where it is already subject to that abortion restriction, according to aides familiar with the process.