Meet the Next Attorney General (Nominee)

President Obama has settled on his pick to replace Eric Holder as attorney general, and coverage seems to be highlighting two main points: Loretta Lynch would be the first black woman to hold the post and, in what Politico calls a "major departure" from Obama's usual ways, she is not a part of his inner circle. Obama will make the nomination official tomorrow. Lynch, 55, currently serves as US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, a prominent office that covers Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island. Boding well for her confirmation by the Senate is that the chamber has twice before confirmed her for the job she now holds, notes the New York Times.

She has experience prosecuting cases related to terrorism, corruption, and organized crime, reports the Washington Post. But perhaps her most high-profile case came in the late 1990s, when she oversaw the prosecution of NYPD officers accused of brutalizing Haitian immigrant Abner Louima with a broom handle. Lynch is a North Carolina native who has undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard. She has been in her current post since 2010, having previously served from 1999 to 2001. It's not clear yet whether the current, lame-duck Senate will act on the nomination or let the new GOP-led Senate do so in January. Obama will defer to Senate leaders on that, according to Politico. (More Loretta Lynch stories.)