Holder a ‘puppet,’ GOP senator says

Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Angus King (I-Maine) disagreed Sunday over Attorney General Eric Holder’s legacy and how President Obama should replace him.

Barrasso, chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, reflected the views of many of his GOP colleagues that Holder was a politically motivated “puppet” driven by Obama’s policy goals. He also said Obama should wait until after the lame-duck session following the elections to nominate a replacement.

{mosads}“To me, he has been a political protector, a partisan protector of the president,” Barrasso said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“We need an attorney general for the people, not presidential protector and a puppet of the administration,” he said. “If they try to do this in the lame-duck session, this will clearly poison the well, and will define what we’re going to see for the next two years.”

Republicans want to wait for the new Senate in January, because they’re betting that they will hold a majority of the seats and be able to exert more influence over Obama’s appointment and that person’s confirmation.

Barrasso said if Obama moved quickly, it would be the first time since the Civil War that a president has appointed an attorney general during the lame duck when Senate control flipped.

“This shows the desperation, and how the Democrats feel threatened that they’re going to lose control of the Senate,” Barrasso said. “And if this happens, this will be [Majority Leader] Harry Reid’s final act in the tragic play that has been Harry Reid’s lead in leadership.”

King, a member of the Democratic caucus, disagreed.

“I think Eric Holder’s a good man. I think he’s followed his conscience in many cases,” he said.

King’s only problem with Holder is when the attorney general didn’t do enough. King said he wanted Holder to work harder to bring justice to those who were responsible for the 2008 financial collapse.

On Holder’s successor, King saw no reason to wait until January.

“The last time I looked, we’re still at work and getting paid until next January, we’re still the Congress of the United States,” he said.

Obama may choose to wait himself, or to appoint someone with whom Republicans agree, King said.

“Let’s see what the president does,” he said.