After a five-month delay, the Senate on Thursday finally confirmed Loretta Lynch as the United States' first African-American female attorney general.
Ten Republicans lent their support in the 56-43 vote, and Lynch will be sworn in on Monday, a White House official told CNN.
Democrats noted that Lynch's confirmation took longer than it did for the seven previous attorneys general combined. The delay was largely due to a disagreement over abortion language found in a human trafficking bill. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., refused to move forward with the nomination until the Senate voted on that bill, which it did Wednesday with a 99 to 0 vote.
"Today, the Senate finally confirmed Loretta Lynch to be America's next Attorney General -- and America will be better off for it," Obama said in a written statement after the vote, reported USA Today.
Lynch, 55, a former U.S. attorney in the New York City area, "has spent her life fighting for the fair and equal justice that is the foundation of our democracy," Obama said.
"As head of the Justice Department, she will oversee a vast portfolio of cases, including counter-terrorism and voting rights; public corruption and white-collar crime; judicial recommendations and policy reviews -- all of which matter to the lives of every American, and shape the story of our country," he added.
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar noted that Lynch's office has prosecuted more terrorism cases since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks than any other office, AFP reported.
Some Republicans argued that Lynch's confirmation will only lend more credibility to Obama's executive actions, particularly his actions on illegal immigrant amnesty.
"We are deeply concerned in this country about the president's executive amnesty, the unlawfulness of it, the breadth of it, the arrogance of it to the point that it's a direct assault on congressional power and legitimacy, direct attack on laws passed by the peoples' representatives, and we've got a big problem," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., argued on the Senate floor Thursday, reported Breitbart.
"Ms. Lynch has said, flat-out, that she supports those policies and is committed to defending them in court against any complaint about it."
