- Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch has finally been confirmed by the Senate to succeed Eric Holder, becoming the nation’s first African-American woman to hold the position.
- 56 senators voted to confirm Lynch, including 10 Republicans — among them Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) himself.
- Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rand Paul (R-KY) voted against Lynch; Lindsey Graham (R-SC) voted for her. Ted Cruz (R-TX) voted against her in a procedural vote earlier today, but left the Capitol before the final vote.
- Lynch waited 166 days between November 8, 2014, when President Obama originally nominated her, and her confirmation vote. That’s the longest delay for any attorney general nominee in history (and, depending on how you count it, arguably longer than the last seven AG nominees combined).
- Senate Democrats and Republicans each blame the other party for the delay. Senate Democrats point to Republicans’ insistence on passing a controversial human trafficking bill before taking up the attorney general nomination, while Republicans counter that Democrats could have confirmed Lynch back in 2014 when they were in control of the Senate.
- Now that Lynch has been confirmed, Eric Holder (a favorite punching bag of Republicans) can finally step down.
Loretta Lynch has finally been confirmed as attorney general
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