United States Senate votes 56-43 to confirm Attorney Loretta Lynch as US Attorney General

The US Senate on Thursday confirmed Loretta Lynch for United States Attorney General, making her the first African American woman to ever serve as the nation's chief law enforcement official.

Story by The Hill
Written by By Jordain Carney

Senators voted 56-43 to confirm Lynch, more than 160 days after she was first nominated for the position by President Obama.

Ten Republican Senators broke ranks and sided with Democrats to get Attorney Loretta Lynch over the 50-vote threshold.

Republican Sens. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Orrin Hatch (Utah), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Susan Collins (Maine), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), Rob Portman (Ohio) Thad Cochran (Miss.), Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Mitch McConnell (Ky.) all voted for Lynch.

Ayotte, Kirk, Portman and Johnson are up for reelection in 2016.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a Republican presidential candidate who said he would oppose Lynch, didn't vote.

Lynch’s vote was one of the closest recent votes for the nation’s top law enforcement post, and the first time senators have included a cloture vote on an attorney general nominee.

Senators were first expected to vote on Lynch’s nomination in mid-March, but it was thrown into limbo as senators got bogged down in a fight over abortion restrictions in an unrelated bill to curb human trafficking.

Senators passed that legislation Wednesday, paving the way for Lynch’s nomination to come up for a vote.

Lynch’s confirmation vote places her squarely in the middle of President Obama’s ongoing immigration battle. Conservative Republicans remained vehemently opposed to her nomination because of that, as well as her broader ties to Obama.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said ahead of the votes that while “no one disputes that she has an impressive legal background,” he added that 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.”

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) added that senators should confirm someone who has “publicly committed to denigrating Congress [and] violating the laws of Congress.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has repeatedly said that he believes Lynch deserves a vote, and voted to move forward with her nomination earlier Thursday.

Cruz slammed McConnell and Senate leaders for allowing for a vote.

“The Republican majority, if it so chose, could defeat this nomination,” the Texas Republican and a 2016 presidential candidate, said. “I would note there are a few voters back home that are asking what exactly is the difference between a Democratic and Republican majority.”

He added that he has asked leadership to block all of Obama’s executive and judicial nominees “unless and until the president rescinds his lawless amnesty.”

But Democrats and a growing number of outside groups heavily criticized McConnell’s tactics on Lynch, who he would not allow to come up for a vote until after the trafficking legislation.

A group of supporters launched a hunger strike earlier this month to try to add pressure to bring up Lynch’s nomination and The Washington Post slammed McConnell in an editorial.

Democrats praised Lynch's confirmation ahead of the vote.

“This is a great historic moment,” Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) said. “I only hope that senate Republicans will only show her more respect as attorney general as the United States than she has received as nominee.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), likely the next Democratic leader, said that “there is one cloud on this sunny day and that is the long time it took to confirm her.”

The debate over the Lynch’s nomination has grown unusually heated, with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Republicans were making her “sit in the back of the bus.”

Republicans quickly criticized the Illinois Democrat’s remarks, and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) took to the Senate floor demanding an apology.

In addition to immigration, Lynch will likely have to weigh in on a wide array of issues including national security.

“The Department of Justice will continue to play a prominent role in dealing with high-profile issues, including national security, police-community relations and financial fraud,” said Hunton & Williams partner Timothy Heaphy. “Loretta Lynch will be at the forefront.”

Heaphy, a former U.S. Attorney worked with Lynch during his two-year term on the Attorney General's Advisory Committee.

It’s unclear when Lynch will step into the attorney general position and replace outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder.