Lynch to be sworn in as attorney general on Monday
WASHINGTON— As attorney general Loretta Lynch assumes a portfolio that includes fighting terrorism, preventing cyberattacks and dealing with police and race — issues strikingly similar to what she’s dealt with as top federal prosecutor for much of New York City and its eastern suburbs.
She inherits a Justice Department consumed by efforts to stop the flow of Islamic State recruits to Syria and prevent destructive computer crimes against American corporations. And she arrives with the department at the center of an ongoing national dialogue on relations between police and minority communities, something she pledged at her confirmation hearing to address.
The Senate’s long-delayed confirmation on Thursday of Lynch, 55, makes her the first African-American woman to hold the position. Vice President Joe Biden will administer the oath of office to her on Monday at a Justice Department ceremony. She replaces Eric Holder and a six-year tenure in which he made civil rights protections a cornerstone priority.