NATIONAL BRIEFING / WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed President Obama’s nomination of Eric H. Holder Jr. for attorney general, 17-2, with all but two Republicans in agreement.
The holdouts were John Cornyn of Texas and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. The Senate could vote as early as today to confirm Holder as the first African American to lead the Justice Department.
Holder has served as a federal prosecutor, judge, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and deputy attorney general under President Clinton. At issue for Republicans was Holder’s role in Clinton’s last-minute pardons, including of fugitive financier Marc Rich, whose wife was a major Democratic donor.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
