Senate Votes to Confirm Loretta Lynch after Months-Long Delay

The Senate voted Thursday afternoon to confirm Loretta Lynch as U.S. Attorney General, putting an end to protracted and unprecedented nomination battle.

The vote was 56-43.

Lynch was nominated by President Barack Obama last November to replace longtime-serving Eric Holder. Last week Obama called the delay of her vote a “crazy situation.”

RELATED: McCain: GOP’s Loretta Lynch Delay ‘Payback’ for Dems Using ‘Nuclear Option’

Most recently her confirmation vote has been held up in a dispute over a human trafficking bill containing an anti-abortion funding measure, which was either slipped in (if you’re a Democrat) or sitting in plain sight in a bill Democrats didn’t read (if you’re a Republican). Multiple Republicans, including Senator Lindsay Graham and potential presidential candidate Jeb Bush, have called upon the Senate to stop blocking her nomination, while others, most notably Senator John McCain (R-AZ), have objected to her stance on Obama’s executive actions. (McCain voted no on her Lynch’s confirmation today.)

The resulting stalemate was broken earlier this week, clearing the way for Lynch’s confirmation. According to PolitiFact, Lynch had waited seven times as long as any previous Attorney General nominee to be confirmed.

[Image via screengrab]

——
>> Follow Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) on Twitter

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!