Senate lawmakers have confirmed Loretta Lynch for the post of attorney general after a five-month delay, voting on a largely party-line vote, with Democrats in the chamber joined by several Republicans supporting her nomination.
A simple majority is all that was required to confirm her and the 56 to 43 vote vote means that Lynch will replace Eric Holder in the top post at the Justice Department. The nomination has been embroiled in a partisan fight between the Obama administration and Republican lawmakers opposed to the president's executive actions to limit deportations for millions of illegal immigrants.
In February, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent her nomination to the full Senate, but Republican leaders delayed the vote for a variety of reasons.
As The Associated Press notes: "Democrats have grown incensed over the long delay in confirming Lynch, with Obama himself weighing in last week to lament Senate dysfunction and decry the wait as 'crazy' and 'embarrassing.'"
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