the us senate voted on  thursday to approve loretta lynch as president barack obama's  next attorney general, ending a five month deadlock that made  lynch wait longer for confirmation than the last seven attorneys  general combined the first black woman to become the top us law enforcement  official, lynch, 55, was approved by a 56 43 vote curiously absent from the final vote was texas senator ted cruz   a key opponent of lynch's nomination he was the only member of the senate who did not cast a vote a copy of a cruz for president invitation later began flying around twitter that showed the gop presidential candidate had skipped town early to make an appearance at a fundraiser at the home of former texas rangers owner and billionaire tom hicks scroll down for video  in: the first black woman to become the top us law enforcement official, lynch, 55, was approved by a 56 43 vote, with 10 republicans joining with senate democrats to approve her  out: she is expected to take over as head of the us justice department on monday, replacing eric holder  lynch is expected to take over as head of the us justice department on monday, replacing eric holder the white house said it did not know when exactly lynch would be sworn in but it wasn't likely to be today president barack obama said in a statement after that the vote that 'america will be better off' having lynch as its next top cop 'she will bring to bear her experience as a tough, independent, and well respected prosecutor on key, bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform,' he said 'loretta’s confirmation ensures that we are better positioned to keep our communities safe, keep our nation secure, and ensure that every american experiences justice under the law' ten  republicans voted for lynch, including senate majority leader  mitch mcconnell and expected presidential candidate lindsey graham, the senior senator from south carolina florida's marco rubio did not vote in her favor cruz tried to block lynch from clearing a procedural hurdle earlier in the day, giving an impassioned speech on the chamber floor urging his colleagues to oppose her nomination, but was missing when the final tally was taken 'the republican majority, if it so chose, could defeat this nomination,' the 2016 oval office candidate said said during the debate on whether to take a formal vote on her nomination 'i would note there are a few voters back home that are asking what exactly is the difference between a democratic and republican majority,' he charged it was not immediately clear why the senator   who had not been shy about his intentions to vote against lynch   was absent from the floor during the formal vote and a spokeswoman for his 2016 campaign simply told daily mail online that he had a prior commitment in texas like a representative from his senate office noted on twitter, the spokeswoman, catherine frazier, said he voted no on cloture, and that's the only one 'that mattered' 'as you know sen cruz led the charge to oppose her nomination at every turn for the last several months,' she added minutes later the cruz for president invitation began circulating online the  vip portion of the event starts at 6 pm central, meaning cruz needed to leave the east coast to by mid afternoon arrive at the party on time hicks, who is currently in the process of selling his estate, on the market for $98 million as of last month, is a neighbor of former us president george w bush, also a republican and a former co owner of the rangers missing: ted cruz was not present for today's final vote on lynch he was the only member of the senate who was absent a copy of a cruz for president invitation that later began flying around twitter indicates the texas senator skipped town early to make a fundraiser at the home of former texas rangers owner and billionaire tom hicks  the voting margin reflected many republicans' disapproval of  lynch's support for an executive order issued by obama in  november that was meant to shield millions of undocumented  immigrants from the threat of deportation before the vote, republican senator jeff sessions, an  outspoken critic of that action, blasted lynch 'we do not have to confirm someone to the highest law  enforcement position in america if that someone is publicly  committed to denigrating congress, violating law,' he said senate democratic leader harry reid berated republicans for  delaying the confirmation and said lynch was 'as qualified a  candidate' as he'd seen in almost 30 years in the senate lynch has awaited confirmation since november when obama, a  fellow harvard law school graduate, nominated her after winning november's midterm elections, republicans asked the democratic led senate not to shove a vote on lynch down their throats in a show of good faith, democrats acquiesced and let the clock run out on their leadership in the senate her nomination was backed by the senate's judiciary committee by a vote of 12 8 on feb 26 but her confirmation languished over an impasse in the republican led senate on an unrelated bill meant to protect human trafficking victims democrats had balked at an anti abortion provision included in that bill, and senate majority leader mcconnell put a hold on all business until that issue was resolved a bipartisan agreement was reached earlier this week, and as a result the process to consider lynch was allowed to move forward hicks is currently in the process of selling his estate, on the market for $98 million as of last month he is a neighbor of former us president george w bush, also a republican and a former co owner of the rangers  mystery solved: minutes after a spokesperson for cruz told daily mail online that the senator had a prior commitment in texas that caused him to miss the vote, this cruz for president invitation began circulating online the vip portion of the event begins at 6pm central, meaning cruz needed to leave the east coast to by mid afternoon arrive at the party on time  despite the delay, she was widely seen as less controversial  than holder, who often clashed with republicans she has said  she aims to smooth relations with congress as attorney general, her earliest tests will likely include  handling civil rights cases stemming from deadly altercations  between police and unarmed black men in several us cities the  justice department has said it will look into bringing civil  rights charges over the death of a baltimore man who died after  sustaining a spinal cord injury while in police custody lynch will also inherit major financial cases involving  allegations that some of the world's largest banks helped  clients evade us taxes and manipulated the currency markets an accomplished career prosecutor, lynch has twice served as  us attorney in brooklyn, new york, most recently since 2010 her office there handled more terrorism prosecutions than most  other offices in the united states for two years, she also led  a committee that advised the attorney general on policy at a senate confirmation hearing on jan 28, lynch said that  her top priorities would include fighting terrorist threats and  cyber crime, and improving relations between law enforcement and  minority communities
loretta gop tom hicks' marco rubio monday the us justice department tonight dallas 55 american senate lynch republicans eric holder mitch mcconnell texas rangers' cruz ted cruz twitter
she is expected to take over as head of the us justice department on monday, replacing eric holder  'loretta’s confirmation ensures that we are better positioned to keep our communities safe, keep our nation secure, and ensure that every american experiences justice under the law,' said the president  lynch, 55, was approved by a 56 43 vote; ten republicans voted for lynch, including senate majority leader mitch mcconnell  gop presidential candidate marco rubio did not; ted cruz tried to stop her nomination from moving forward and was missing during the final vote  an invitation flying around twitter shows cruz has a fundraiser tonight at former texas rangers' owner and billionaire tom hicks' dallas home 