Five months after her nomination by U.S. President Barack Obama, Loretta Lynch is expected to finally be confirmed by the Senate as the nation’s next attorney general Thursday.

Lynch’s nomination had been held up for weeks after Senate Democrats held up passage of legislation aimed at cracking down on human trafficking, due to an anti-abortion amendment inserted into the bill by Republicans.

In response, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to bring Lynch’s nomination up for a vote until work on the trafficking bill was resolved.

The impasse over the abortion measure was broken earlier this week when a handful of Republicans and Democrats reached a compromise, paving the way for its passage Wednesday by a vote of 99-0.  

Some Republicans also opposed Lynch because of her support for Obama’s executive orders that would allow millions of undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States.  

Lynch is a veteran federal prosecutor based in New York. If confirmed, she would be the first African-American woman to lead the Justice Department.
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