Susan Walsh / AP

President Obama has vowed to present his pick to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia before leaving office in January, but one of the rumored candidates on Obama’s short list — Attorney General Loretta Lynch — has taken herself out of the running.

An official statement from the Justice Department made the Twitter rounds Tuesday afternoon, quashing speculation that Lynch would have the honor of being shunned by Senate Republicans who have said they would be categorically unwilling to acknowledge any of Obama’s potential SCOTUS nominees:

Lynch’s stated rationale for bowing out seems solid, although after her recent takedown of FIFA’s top brass, watching her take on Mitch McConnell’s power posse might have made for a C-SPAN moment worth catching.

–Posted by Kasia Anderson

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#antonin scalia#attorney general#barack obama#department of justice#gop#justice#loretta lynch#scotus#supreme court