The Senate on Thursday voted 56-43 to confirm Loretta Lynch as the next attorney general, making her the first African-American woman to hold the position. Lynch replaces Attorney General Eric Holder, who in September announced he would step down once a successor was in place.
Though President Obama nominated Lynch late last year, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) put her confirmation on hold amid a partisan squabble over a human trafficking bill. The Senate unanimously signed off on a bipartisan compromise on the trafficking legislation Wednesday, finally clearing the way for Thursday's vote on Lynch. The protracted hold meant Lynch's confirmation was the third-longest in U.S. history for an attorney general nominee, according to The New York Times.
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