Loretta Lynch makes history, becomes first Black woman Attorney General

The highly politicized five-month battle to choose President Barack Obama’s next attorney general came to a close Thursday when the Senate finally voted to confirm Loretta Lynch.

Lynch was confirmed in a 56-43 vote making her the first African American female attorney general in U.S. history.

She takes over from Attorney General Eric Holder, whom Republicans had criticized as being a rubber stamp for Obama’s policies.

Lynch’s confirmation brought to an end a months-long process that Democrats noted took longer than the confirmation of the seven previous attorneys general combined.

“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 statement.

“Loretta has spent her life fighting for the fair and equal justice that is the foundation of our democracy.”

Lynch, 55, has served twice as US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where she thrived as a relentless federal prosecutor putting mobsters and terror suspects behind bars.

Her office has prosecuted more terrorism cases since the 9/11 attacks of 2001 than any other office, noted Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, who described Lynch as “exactly the type of tough and tested leader” Americans need in the job