It's becoming increasingly possible that the clock may run out on President Obama's effort to get his Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch confirmed before Congress adjourns at the end of the year.Opposition is growing not so much to the nominee, but in having a lame duck Senate vote on the nominee. Several leading Republicans have already come forward suggesting that the president should hold off.

Washington Examiner:

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., urged Senate Democrats to hold off on considering Eric Holder’s replacement as attorney general until Republicans take over the Senate in the new year.

Senate Democrats are reportedly leaning toward confirming U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, Obama’s choice to succeed Holder over the next two months during the lame-duck session of Congress.

Thune acknowledged there’s little Republicans can do to block her confirmation by year’s end after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., changed Senate rules to only require a simple majority to approve presidential nominations.

But, he said, it would be in the “best interest of the country and the Congress to wait and do this next year under regular order.”

“Loretta Lynch will get fair consideration,” he said. “But there’s got to be — there’s a process ... and Eric Holder has said he’s not going anywhere soon so it’s not like the position isn’t going to be filled.”

Thune isn't the only Republican Senator to call for a delay:

The same day that President Obama nominated Loretta Lynch to be the next attorney general, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) signaled that it won't be an easy process.

"President Obama’s Attorney General nominee deserves fair and full consideration of the United States Senate, which is precisely why she should not be confirmed in the lame duck session of Congress by senators who just lost their seats and are no longer accountable to the voters," the senators said in a Saturday statement.

Multiple Republican senators have already expressed the same view that the Senate should wait to confirm the attorney general until the newly-elected senators take office in January.

But Cruz and Lee also said they would question Lynch over immigration.

The Senate has a pretty full plate of legislation to deal with in the lame duck session, including the budget, the debt ceiling, and an important debate on authorizing the president's war against ISIS. Trying to squeeze in the AG nomination smacks of desperation by the Democrats. The GOP wants to make the debate over Lynch's confirmation a set piece for attacking Obama's immigration executive order. They won't be able to do that unless they control the debate - something they can do when their new majority takes their seats in January.