the u.s. senate on thursday voted to approve loretta lynch as the next u.s. attorney general. lynch becomes the nation's first black female top law enforcement official. the historic confirmation took five months - longer than the last seven attorney generals combined.
lynch, 55, was approved by a 56-43 vote. ten republicans cast their ballots for lynch, including senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. she expects to begin serving as head of the u.s. justice department on monday, replacing eric holder, the first black attorney general.
many republicans who voted against lynch vehemently disliked her support of president obama's executive order issued in november. the controversial order was meant to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from the threat of deportation.
republican senator jeff sessions, an outspoken critic of the order, said, "we do not have to confirm someone to the highest law enforcement position in america if that someone is publicly committed to denigrating congress, violating law."
senate democratic leader harry reid chided republicans for delaying the vote. reid said lynch was "as qualified a candidate" as he'd seen in almost 30 years in the senate. lynch has awaited confirmation since last november when obama, a fellow harvard law school graduate, nominated her.
lynch will likely handle some civil rights cases involving recent fatal incidents between white male police officers and unarmed black males in several cities. the justice department said it will assess possible civil rights charges against cops in maryland. freddie gray, 25, died on sunday in baltimore after sustaining a spinal cord injury while in police custody.
i am
- mark j. tuggle
- harlem, usa
- same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.
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