DC Attorney Eric Holder has been offered and has accepted the post of Attorney General in the Obama Administration, the AP reports. The offer and acceptance are reported as being “informal” in lieu of completion of a thorough vetting process by Obama’s transition team.

Eric Holder would be the first African-American Attorney General of the United State should he be confirmed by the senate, however he already held the role of Acting Attorney General during the transition between the Clinton and Bush Administrations in early 2001, after having served as Deputy Attorney General to Janet Reno during the the 1990’s. A Bronx Native, he is the graduate of New York City’s famed Stuyvesant High School, as well as Columbia University and Columbia Law School. Since his last service in government he has been a litigation partner in the law firm Covington & Burling.

The Justice Department is unquestionably one of the most potent tools an administration has at its disposal to push its agenda throughout society. The very nature of the Department which does not require the wrenching compromises with Congress that the arduous process of passing legislation does makes it a much more direct and focused bureaucracy on combating through the judicial system the issues an administration wishes to address. Here’s hoping for a successful run of Mr. Holder, should he be confirmed on heading the Justice Department over the coming years.

You can takepart in supporting an organization that uses its legal know how to fight for the basic rights afforded to Americans by checking out the American Civil Liberties Union.

LINKS:

Yahoo! News (AP): Holder informally offered, accepts AG job

MarketWatch: Obama to pick Holder as Attorney General, Newsweek reports

WaPo: Sources: Holder to be Attorney General