Lynch confirmed as attorney general

WASHINGTON - Loretta Lynch's long wait to become U.S. attorney general ended Thursday, with the Senate voting to confirm the veteran New York prosecutor five months after President Obama submitted her nomination to Congress.

The vote was highly anticipated for numerous reasons: Lynch's status as the first African American woman to be nominated for the post, the high-profile role the Justice Department has played in national concerns over race and policing, the political implications for senators facing voters next year, and the unusual delay - the longest for an attorney general nominee in 31 years.

In the end, the margin was wider than had been expected: 10 Republicans, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, joined the Senate's 44 Democrats and 2 independents in supporting Lynch; 43 senators, all Republicans, were opposed.

Among Philadelphia-area senators, Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) cast the only no vote.

"Given Ms. Lynch's experience and commitment to public service, I wish that I could support her nomination. However, as I announced publicly after meeting with her in late February, I cannot support her," Toomey said in a statement issued after the vote. "During our meeting, Ms. Lynch refused to answer fundamental questions about the U.S. Constitution and how it limits the President's authority."

Lynch is expected to be sworn in as the nation's 83d attorney general on Monday, according to Justice Department officials not authorized to comment publicly.

Obama said in a statement that "America will be better off" with Lynch in charge of the Justice Department. "She will bring to bear her experience as a tough, independent, and well-respected prosecutor on key, bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform," he said.

Outgoing Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., stepping down after more than six years, said Lynch would be "an outstanding attorney general, a dedicated guardian of the Constitution, and a devoted champion of all those whom the law protects and empowers."

Getting the Senate to a final vote had been a slow and rancorous affair, with Obama deeming the spectacle "embarrassing" last week. It gave Democrats frequent opportunities to lambaste McConnell, right up until Thursday.

"I guess I was naive in thinking my Republican colleagues would treat Loretta Lynch with the dignity that she and her office deserve," Minority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said on the Senate floor. "Perhaps my mistake was forgetting that for Republicans, this isn't about Loretta Lynch. It's about President Obama."

Obama nominated Lynch, 55, to replace Holder in November. The Senate, then under Democratic control, did not act on the nomination, preferring to spend precious time in the lame-duck session on judicial appointments that party leaders believed would stall in a Republican-controlled Senate.

A Republican Senate, the thinking went, would not dawdle in confirming a replacement for Holder, a frequent target of Republican enmity. That proved not to be the case, especially after Lynch became entangled in a deep partisan rift over Obama's immigration policy.

During questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee in January, Lynch said she believed Obama's executive actions on immigration last year passed legal and constitutional muster, angering Republicans who considered them an overreach.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) said that, under Lynch, "We are sadly going to see more and more lawlessness, more recklessness, more abuse of power, more executive lawlessness."

After the January hearing, it took nearly a month for the panel to advance Lynch's nomination, and once it did, the nomination became caught up in an unrelated political dispute.