BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CN) - President Barack Obama picked U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch to succeed the outgoing Eric Holder as attorney general, unconfirmed reports Friday state.
Lynch, the 55-year-old top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, has not returned a call seeking comment. Any nomination would still face confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
Rumors of the advancement began swirling in the weeks after Holder announced his resignation on Sept. 25.
Holder had been one of the longest-serving members of President Obama's cabinet, the fourth-longest-tenured U.S. attorney general in history, and the nation's first black attorney general.
If confirmed, Lynch will be the first black woman to serve as attorney general. Obama appointed Lynch to her U.S. attorney gig in 2010, but she had also led the office from 1999 to 2001 following her appointment by President Bill Clinton.
Lynch began working for the office in 1990, according to her profile on the Justice Department website.
The Harvard alumna worked in private practice before both U.S. attorney appointments.
Editor's Note: Confirmation by the White House appeared Saturday, and remarks by Obama on the nomination appeared Sunday.
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