The White House has criticized the Republican-dominated Senate for delaying the confirmation of President Barack Obama's nominee for Attorney General, Loretta Lynch.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest says Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is commiting "unconscionable delay" by tying up the confirmation hearing for Lynch to the passage of a bill on human trafficking.

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Earnest says the inability of the Senate to immediately hold a vote on Lynch shows McConnell's incompetent leadership, and not a loophole in the trafficking bill.

Republican and Democratic legislators are on a gridlock over the trafficking bill due to a provision on the funding for abortions, which has nothing to do with Lynch's nomination.

"You've got to hand it to the Republicans. They have taken even a measure as common sense as that, and turned it into a partisan controversy," says Earnest.

"This is not a reflection of a flaw in the bill. It's a reflection of inept leadership," he further tells McConnell.

But McConnell's spokesman Don Stewart has passed on the blame on the Democrats in the Senate.

"It wasn't the Republicans who turned it into a partisan controversy," he says.

Stewart says the bill on human trafficking only became a subject of long debates "when the President's party decided to 'filibuster' the measure that they support."

Stewart was referring to the Democrats' objection to the bill, after they noticed that it contains a provision that bans the use of the fund for abortions.

McConnale had put Lynch' corfirmation vote this week, but this was subject to the approval of the trafficking bill.

Now that the discussions on the bill broke down, there is an uncertainty as to when the nomination for the post of Attorney General will be tackled next.

If the confirmation hearing for Lynch will not push through this week, she might have to settle for April as the next date for a possible vote on her nomination.

This is because by next week, the lawmakers are set to focus on the budget, before they go on a two-week recess.

TagsU.S. Senate, Attorney General