Republicans are looking to bludgeon two birds with one stone in Loretta Lynch's upcoming attorney general confirmation hearings. It's official Republican policy to make a giant fuss about anyone President Obama nominates for any major role, but, as a longtime federal prosecutor, Lynch doesn't offer them much fodder, which must be frustrating for them. But! It just so happens that Republicans are also looking for a vehicle to make a fuss over the president's plan to move forward on immigration and do what he can without them. So even though Lynch's nomination doesn't have a whole lot to do with immigration, the big GOP plan is to use her confirmation hearings to stage a tantrum.
Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have already demanded a delay on Lynch's confirmation vote. It seems that, in line with the role Cruz will soon take as de facto majority leader, they're riding out to the front of a broader charge:
The Republicans’ early strategy, according to comments from senators and several Republican aides close to the Judiciary Committee, centers on whether the president has the authority to bypass Congress on immigration — allowing Republicans to write their own narrative on the nomination. [...]
Since Attorney General Eric Holder said in September he planned to step down, a handful of other Senate Republicans have signaled the issue of executive action on immigration would be a central issue in confirming his successor. For example, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama has, for weeks, been encouraging fellow senators to oppose any replacement for Holder who does not “firmly reject” Obama’s plan for executive action on immigration.
You never want to underestimate the ability of congressional Republicans to drag things out, make politics miserable and dispiriting, and further alienate voters from the entire political process, but Democrats, at this point, don't seem too worried. Their quoted responses are basically like "Really, guys? Politicizing the nomination of a highly qualified longtime federal prosecutor with unrelated attacks on President Obama? That'll look good for you." The immigration angle will really help the GOP with Latino and Asian voters in 2016, no doubt, just as attacking the woman who would be the first black female attorney general will really help Rand Paul attain his laughable goal of
33 percent of the African-American vote for Republicans in 2016.