Senate OKs Loretta Lynch as Attorney General

It took a while, but the US is finally getting a new attorney general. The Senate today voted 56-43 to confirm Loretta Lynch for the post, reports the Wall Street Journal. The move comes five months after President Obama nominated her to replace Eric Holder, a nomination that got held up in an unrelated legislative mess that didn't get resolved until this week. Lynch, currently the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, will be the first black woman to hold the post, notes AP. She is expected to be sworn in on Monday.

It was one of the closest votes for an attorney general recently, reports the Hill, which says the reason was Republican concerns that Lynch wouldn't keep what they see as presidential overreach in check on matters such as immigration. "No one disputes that she has an impressive legal background,” said Chuck Grassley. The "question for me from the start has been whether Ms. Lynch will make a clean break from his policies and take the department in a new direction.” Democrat Pat Leahy, however, called her approval "a great historic moment," adding, “I only hope that Senate Republicans will only show her more respect as attorney general [of] the United States than she has received as nominee.” (More Loretta Lynch stories.)