U.S. Senate Approves Loretta Lynch as Attorney General

The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to approve Obama-nominated Loretta Lynch to the role of attorney general after a five month delay. Lynch will now replace Eric Holder's role in the justice department.

Senate voted 56-43 to approve Lynch, with ten republicans appointing her to the top law enforcement position in the country.

Lynch's appointment comes after five months of deadlock between democrats and republicans, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell arguing that Lynch would not be approved until democrats voted on an unrelated piece of human trafficking legislation.

The stall to approve Lynch garnered disapproval from President Barack Obama, who accused Senate of being dysfunctional and participating in "political gamesmanship."

"Enough. Enough. Call Loretta Lynch for a vote, get her confirmed, let her do her job. This is embarrassing," Obama told reporters earlier this month.

Thursday's vote for Lynch continued to reflect Republicans' disapproval of the candidate, with Republican Senator Jeff Sessions voicing his disapproval of the new attorney general in relation to her support of amnesty for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

"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," Sessions said Thursday, as reported by Reuters.

Thursday's vote makes Lynch the first African American woman to be voted in as attorney general.

"The good guys won. That's what has happened in this country all along," Lorenzo Lynch, father to the new attorney general, told reporters. "Even during slavery. Levi Coffin was a founder of the Underground Railroad. Even during slavery. A white man fought against slavery. So all over this land good folks have stood in the right lane, in the right path."