US Attorney General Loretta Lynch was highly recommended by Democratic Pres. Barack Obama for the vacant position left by former Justice Antonin Scalia in the Supreme Court. However, Lynch seemed uninterested with the president's nomination.
If Lynch would accept Obama's nomination, she would be the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Lynch received bipartisan support for her nomination as attorney general. In the past weeks, several names emerged on the president's list including Jane Kelly, Sri Srinivasan, and Paul Watford. All the judges served as federal appeals court judges. In a statement, a Department of Justice rep claimed that Lynch wasn't interested with the position vacated by Scalia, AOL reports. The Obama Administration is presently looking for a replacement for Scalia who passed away last month.
"Given the urgent issues before the Department of Justice, she asked not to be considered for the position," said Justice Department spokeswoman Melanie Newman.
Newman also claimed that Lynch was honored to work as an attorney general and that she's dedicated to serve her position until she finish her term, San Francisco CBS Local reported. Newman also added that her nomination could only reduce her effectiveness in her position as attorney general. Meanwhile, in an interview with Fox News the recent week, Lynch directly addressed the speculation that she's being eyed for the position of Scalia.
"I haven't had those conversations. I'm very happy with my job," Lynch said.
Before Lynch's nomination, the filling of position formerly held by Scalia has sparked major division in White House. Scalia is one of the higher court's most conservative justices. The Republican-led congress has expressed their fear that the court will ideologically change its course. They argued that they are not going to cast a vote on Obama's nominee, according to WINA. The Republicans said that they are only going to vote on the nomination made by the next president who will win in the Nov. 8 presidential election.
Lynch was a previous attorney in Brooklyn and was confirmed as an attorney general last year. If Lynch's decision would not change, Ketanji Brown Jackson, a federal judge in the District of Columbia would be the only black woman likely to be a candidate for the higher court's vacant position.
