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President Obama Accepts Eric Holder's Resignation

CBN

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President Barack Obama accepted the resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder Thursday evening, calling it a "bittersweet moment." 

White House officials say the president has not made a decision on who will replace him.

Holder, the nation's first African-American to serve in the post, has held the office since the beginning of the Obama administration in 2009.

"At a formal announcement later today, the attorney general plans to express his personal gratitude to the president for the opportunity to serve in his administration and to lead the Justice Department, which he will call the 'greatest honor of my professional life,'" an official told ABC News.

Why is Holder resigning now? Jordon Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, and Richard Kelsey, assistant dean at George Mason University's School of Law, addressed that and more on CBN News Today, Sept. 25.

Word of the resignation was confirmed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, during a meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus. 

"He has served our country very well, but the message is that the attorney general will be submitting his resignation to the president," Pelosi said.

Meanwhile, Tom Fitton, head of Judicial Watch, said he doesn't think it's any coincidence Holder is resigning just after a judge made a ruling about the Fast and Furious gun-running scandal that went against the Department of Justice.

The botched operation may have led to thousands of weapons being transferred to drug dealers and kingpins, according to a congressional investigation.

Fitton noted that Holder's tenure has been marked by high visibility and controversy, from civil rights issues such as the Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown killings, to administration scandals, including the IRS targeting of religious conservatives.

"You can only run from the rule of law so long," he told CBN News.

Richard Kelsey, assistant dean at the George Mason University School of Law, shared Fitton's sentiments.

"The resignation of Eric Holder may result in some Justice finally being brought to bear on a Justice department that has been over politicized under his failed leadership," Kelsey said in a statement. "Mr. Holder's term has been marked by controversy and scandal.  From Fast and Furious to the IRS scandal, the Holder Justice department has failed the test of transparency."

"Moreover, Mr. Holder has converted the role of Justice from the leader of our national justice system to an arm of the president's political operation," he continued. "Under Mr. Holder, the over-reach of presidential power and abuses of that power in end-running Congress have only grown -- with his tacit or direct approval."

Holder, 63,  plans to stay on the job until a successor is confirmed. He has not confirmed his future plans.

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