WASHINGTON — 163 days. That’s how long Loretta Lynch has been waiting for the Senate to vote on her confirmation as U.S. attorney general because of Republican delays. There’s a number of ways to illustrate how absurdly long this is. Look at Lynch’s predecessors. John Ashcroft waited 42 days to get confirmed as President George W. Bush’s attorney general. Janet Reno waited just 29 days to be confirmed as President Bill Clinton’s attorney general. If you add up the number of days the previous seven U.S. attorneys general waited to be confirmed, and combine them, that’s still less than 163 days. But for some real perspective, consider how long it…
WASHINGTON — 163 days.
That’s how long Loretta Lynch has been waiting for the Senate to vote on her confirmation as U.S. attorney general because of Republican delays.
There’s a number of ways to illustrate how absurdly long this is.
Look at Lynch’s predecessors. John Ashcroft waited 42 days to get confirmed as President George W. Bush’s attorney general. Janet Reno waited just 29 days to be confirmed as President Bill Clinton’s attorney general. If you add up the number of days the previous seven U.S. attorneys general waited to be confirmed, and combine them, that’s still less than 163 days.
But for some real perspective, consider how long it takes for things to happen outside of the Senate, in everyday life. Gazillions of mosquitoes were born, lived to be old in mosquito years and died in less time than Lynch has been waiting. Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears and Dennis Rodman all got married and filed for divorce in less time — combined! For the love of God, Earth was created in less time.
The BP oil spill dumped more than 200 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico over a seemingly endless 87 days. Linsanity — the meteoric Knicks career of Jeremy Lin — was at its peak for less than two months.
And Lynch’s wait is actually longer than the entire terms of at least two attorneys general: Edwin M. Stanton, who served for 74 days, and Elliot Richardson, who hung on for 148 days.
Here’s a chart that gives some important context on things that took less time to complete than Lynch’s confirmation. If she has to wait much longer, she’ll surpass the amount of time it took poor Frodo Baggins to return the ring to Mordor.
Ryan Grim contributed reporting.
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