US Attorney General Eric Holder resigning

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Eric Holder, America’s first black attorney general and an unflinching champion of civil rights in enforcing the nation’s laws, announced his resignation Thursday after leading the Justice Department since the first days of President Barack Obama’s term. He is the fourth- longest-serving attorney general in U.S. history.

Holder, the administration’s point man on the civil-rights investigation into the police shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old in Ferguson, Mo., won’t leave until a replacement is confirmed, which means he could remain in office for months.

Senate Republicans signaled they were preparing for a confirmation fight after years of battles with Holder. Said Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell: “I will be scrutinizing the president’s replacement nominee to ensure the Justice Department finally returns to prioritizing law enforcement over partisan concerns.”

In an emotional ceremony at the White House, Obama called Holder “the people’s lawyer” and credited him with driving down both the nation’s crime and incarceration rate — the first time they have declined together in more than 40 years.

“Through it all, he’s shown a deep and abiding fidelity to one of our most-cherished ideals as a people, and that is equal justice under the law,” Obama said.

Holder responded by speaking of how he was inspired as a boy by Robert Kennedy’s leadership on civil rights at the Justice Department, his voice choking as he expressed his thanks to Obama and his own family. “You got through it,” Obama could be heard telling Holder as the audience stood and applauded.

In a speech earlier this week, Holder described the dual perspective he brought to the job and how it applied to the Ferguson shooting, in which a young black man was shot and killed by a white policeman. He said he had the utmost respect for police as a former prosecutor and the brother of an officer. But, he added, “As an African-American man who has been stopped and searched by police in situations where such actions were not warranted, I also carry with me an understanding of the mistrust that some citizens harbor.”