Loretta Lynch has been confirmed as the 83rd Attorney General of the United States (via ABC News):
The Senate narrowly confirmed Loretta Lynch as the next attorney general today, 166 days after she was first nominated for the post.The Senate approved Lynch’s nomination with a vote of 56 to 43.
Stay tuned for updates.
UPDATE: The following Senate Republicans voted 'aye' (via TPM):
In an unexpected turn, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) voted with the Democratic caucus to confirm Lynch after slow-walking her nomination.The other Republicans who voted for Lynch were Sens. Orrin Hatch (UT), Lindsey Graham (SC), Jeff Flake (AZ), Thad Cochran (MS), Susan Collins (ME), Mark Kirk (IL), Kelly Ayotte (NH), Ron Johnson (WI) and Rob Portman (OH).
UPDATE: Before the vote, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) spoke against Ms. Lynch's confirmation, listing all the reasons why he believes she should not succeed Eric Holder as Attorney General. See the clip below.
Unfortunately, he didn't stick around to vote.
UPDATE: This is interesting. John McCain and Ted Cruz don't agree on much. But they agreed on this:
Voted "no" on confirmation of Loretta Lynch to AG - can't support her approval of Obama's exec action on immigration: http://t.co/8BLgxEiJb9
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) April 23, 2015