FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL IS CONFIRMED BY A FINAL VOTE OF 56 YEAS TO 43 NAYS

On April 23, 2015, the United States Senate voted, by a margin of 56 yeas to 43 nays, to confirm Loretta Lynch to be the next Attorney General of the United States.  This vote came after a delay of more than 170 days; only 2 U.S. Attorneys General in history saw longer confirmation delays.

On November 8, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Loretta Lynch to replace Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General.  Mr. Holder had announced his retirement in September, 2014.  Prior to serving as U.S. Attorney General, Ms. Lynch, served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.  Even her detractors admit that she is extremely qualified, and she makes history as the first African-American woman to serve in the position.

As the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Ms. Lynch earned praise for her work fighting sex trafficking, police brutality, terrorism, and religious and racial hate crimes. In fact, throughout her 30-year career, she has distinguished herself as tough, as fair, an independent lawyer who has twice headed one of the most prominent U.S. Attorney’s offices in the country.  She also traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, in 2014 as part of the U.S. official delegation before the United Nations Covenant to Eradicate Racial Discrimination.  At that time, her mastery of the issues as well as her ardent support and understandings of the positions was impressive. READ MORE