BREAKING NEWS | Senate confirms new attorney general

WASHINGTON (AP) — Loretta Lynch won confirmation to serve as attorney general today from a Senate that forced her to wait more than five months for the title and remained divided to the end.

The 56-43 vote installs Lynch, now U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, as the first black woman in the nation's top law enforcement post. She will replace Eric Holder, a perennial lightning rod for conservatives who was once held in contempt of Congress.

The vote total for Lynch was the lowest for any attorney general since Michael Mukasey won confirmation with 53 votes in 2007 after Democrats decried his refusal to describe waterboarding as torture.

For Lynch, 55, the issue that tore into her support with Republicans was immigration, and her refusal to denounce President Barack Obama's executive actions limiting deportations for millions of people living illegally in this country. Questioned on the issue at her confirmation hearing in January, she said that she believed Obama's actions were reasonable and lawful.

Democrats angrily criticized Republicans for using the issue against her, but Republicans were unapologetic.

Announced GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Lynch's comments rendered her "unsuitable for confirmation as attorney general of the United States. That was a shame."