LYNCH CONFIRMED
Loretta Lynch will become the nation’s next attorney general after being confirmed Thursday by the Senate.
WASHINGTON — Loretta E. Lynch, who was confirmed Thursday as attorney general, will meet with local police officers nationwide this summer as she tries to strike a new tone for the Justice Department amid a roiling controversy over the use of lethal force, aides said.
Ms. Lynch, who will be the first African-American woman to hold the post, will replace Eric H. Holder Jr., an ally of President Barack Obama who has been the administration’s most outspoken voice on issues of race relations and civil rights. His tenure made him a hero among many on the left but recently earned him scorn from some police groups who said he was too quick to criticize officers amid a spate of high-profile episodes of black men dying at the hands of white officers.
Ms. Lynch, the daughter of a North Carolina civil rights leader and a child of the segregated South who turns 56 next month, shares many of Mr. Holder’s liberal views but has signaled that she plans a different approach, particularly in the nationwide debate over police tactics. While Mr. Holder recently completed a tour of minority communities to discuss policing, Ms. Lynch’s aides said that improving police morale and finding common ground between law enforcement and minority communities would be among her top priorities.
“Loretta’s confirmation ensures that we are better positioned to keep our communities safe, keep our nation secure, and ensure that every American experiences justice under the law,” Mr. Obama said. Ms. Lynch is expected to be sworn in Monday, according to the Justice Department.
Thursday’s vote came after weeks of a fractious debate, with Democrats increasingly incensed by the delay, which was longer than that for all but two other nominees for attorney general: Edwin Meese III, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan, and A. Mitchell Palmer, who was selected by President Woodrow Wilson, according to the Congressional Research Service. Though no senators questioned her qualifications, some Republicans opposed her because she defended Mr. Obama’s executive actions to give legal status to millions of immigrants.
Even with all the professed Republican opposition, Ms. Lynch was confirmed 56-43, with 10 Republicans voting for her, including Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the majority leader, whose control of the Senate floor had helped cause the delay. The vote also had overtones for the 2016 elections.
“The Republican majority if it so chose could defeat this confirmation,” said Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a Republican presidential candidate, who called Ms. Lynch “lawless.” Mr. Cruz, who traveled to Texas for his campaign, was the only senator to miss the final vote.
“This should be a happy day for America,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. She said Republicans opposed Ms. Lynch merely because “she agrees with the man who selected her,” a posture Ms. McCaskill called “beyond depressing — it’s disgusting.”
Ms. Lynch will now have a possible tenure that stretches little more than 18 months. That will make it hard for her to carry out significant policy changes, especially in a climate with a Republican-controlled Congress, a lame-duck president and a shift in attention to the 2016 presidential election.
“I don’t know, as a practical matter, that they can pull off any major policy initiatives,” said Keith B. Nelson, a top congressional liaison under Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey, who served during the last year of President George W. Bush’s administration.
Ms. Lynch’s aides said she has no immediate plans for major pronouncements and will instead focus on internal changes at the department. She wants to restructure her office to be more responsive to cybersecurity cases, much in the same way that officials restructured the office in response to terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
She also has told Congress and Justice Department officials that she plans to do more to combat human trafficking — the selling of people into slavery and prostitution. As the top federal prosecutor in the Brooklyn section of New York City, Ms. Lynch built one of the nation’s premier programs to fight that crime.