Loretta Lynch, the Brooklyn-based United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, has been rumored for weeks to be the next nominee for the United States Attorney General post. Although chatter began Election Day, there has been rumblings from Washington that a decision is nearing to a close.
Lynch, 55, is seen as a shoo-in pick for the post that current Attorney General Eric Holder is vacating. Lynch, a Black woman and native of North Carolina, has been viewed as a top candidate after another potential name dropped out of the running. Past White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler pulled out over concerns that her involvement in controversial White House decisions would pose an uphill battle in getting confirmed.
On Friday, a report from CNN alleged that President Barack Obama would be making an announcement today but sources at the Department of Justice say that would not be the case.
Late last month, the Reuters news agency listed Solicitor General Donald Verrilli and current Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez as other choice candidates according to sources close to the behind-the-scenes talks. Because of her relatively controversy-free tenure as a federal prosecutor, Lynch’s confirmation by the U.S. Senate was once thought to not pose a problem. Now that the GOP holds the Senate, that assumption could change.
Lynch, who many insiders say will indeed be the President Obama’s choice, would be the first Black woman to head the Department of Justice and give much-needed balance to the president’s male-dominated Cabinet.
Lynch attended undergraduate and law school at Harvard University. She was appointed to her current position by President Obama in 2010.
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Photo: DOJ/Public Domain
