Obama didn't put up 'much of a fight' to keep Holder

WASHINGTON — Eric Holder, one of the most loyal, liberal and controversial members of President Obama's administration, said Thursday he would retire after nearly six years as attorney general.

Obama formally announced the resignation at the White House, calling Holder "the people's lawyer" and praising him for his work on civil rights.

He championed gay rights, voting rights and a rethinking of drug policies. He clashed with the news media over leak investigations and congressional Republicans over probes into misconduct in the Obama administration. Liberal critics said he wasn't aggressive enough in prosecuting financial crimes.

"I hope I have done honor to the faith you have placed in me, Mr. President," Holder said in an uncharacteristically emotional speech.

Holder's resignation was his own decision, but Obama accepted it "without putting up much of a fight" because of how long the attorney general had served, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday.

Earnest acknowledged that Holder's tenure had become increasingly difficult, saying the attorney general had "confronted a large number of issues — many of them very complicated, some of them maybe controversial." He said Holder has "certainly put in his time in a way that he can be proud of and a way that the country has appreciated."

The attorney general told top Justice Department staff and members of Congress of his plans Thursday morning.

Holder will stay on until his successor is named and confirmed by the Senate, Earnest said. He said Obama has not made a decision on who will replace him.

"I'm confident there are members of the president's team who have been thinking about who solid candidates might be," Earnest said. "I've not seen the list. I'm sure the president has his own ideas, and there will be a formal process. This is a high-priority position."

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse all disavowed any interest in the job Thursday. Speculation also centered on Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, former White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler and Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The elections Nov, 4 will decide which party will control the Senate, so Democrats want a quick process for confirming Holder's successor. New Senate rules pushed through by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would allow Democrats to sign off on whomever Obama names with a simple majority vote. But the Senate isn't scheduled to come back until Nov. 12.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told MSNBC that he wants to hold hearings "as quickly as possible" on Holder's successor. Reid said he hoped for "swift and fair consideration" of a replacement.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a Holder critic, said Republicans would scrutinize the next nominee to make sure he or she "finally returns to prioritizing law enforcement over partisan concerns."

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, urged Obama to take his time. "Rather than rush a nominee through the Senate in a lame-duck session, I hope the president will now take his time to nominate a qualified individual who can start fresh relationships with Congress," he said.

Holder, 63, has served the Obama administration for nearly six years — and has held the job of the nation's top law enforcement official longer than all but three of his predecessors. After his departure, only two of Obama's original Cabinet members will remain: Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Holder is the nation's first African-American attorney general.

Holder set a contentious tone early in his tenure. In a speech in his first month in office, he called America "a nation of cowards" on matters of race. The speech was widely criticized, but it established Holder as the Obama administration's leading voice on racial issues.

Civil rights groups praised his tenure, citing his work to reduce sentences for non-violent drug offenders, defend the Voting Rights Act and investigate police misconduct.

"There has been no greater ally in the fight for justice, civil rights, equal rights and voting rights than Attorney General Holder," civil rights advocate Myrlie Evers said.

Holder can leave "with his head held high and with his record intact as one who has served this nation and served the civil rights community broadly, very well," said Al Sharpton, an MSNBC commentator and informal White House adviser. He said he hoped Obama would consult civil rights leaders in naming Holder's successor, "and we will be trying to arrange those conversations."

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, compared what Holder did for gays and lesbians to what a predecessor did for African Americans.

"Some attorneys general wait for history, others make history happen," Griffin said. "He was our Robert F. Kennedy."

Holder's legacy includes another first: the first sitting Cabinet member to be held in contempt of Congress.

He butted heads with House Republicans over his handling of controversies at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and at the Internal Revenue Service. In 2012, the House voted on a resolution — supported by 17 House Democrats — holding him in contempt for his refusal to turn over documents in the ATF's "Fast and Furious" arms operation.

"Eric Holder is the most divisive U.S. attorney general in modern history," said House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who brought the contempt charges. "Time and again, Eric Holder administered justice as the political activist he describes himself as instead of an unbiased law enforcement official."

Holder faced criticism from consumer advocates, too. He was accused of failing to prosecute bankers responsible for the mortgage meltdown in 2008 — and when he reached civil settlements with major Wall Street institutions, he often allowed them to write off the judgments as business expenses, said Michelle Surka of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

Holder served in the Justice Department under six presidents of both parties. He even served briefly as acting attorney general at the beginning of President George W. Bush's administration.

Friday, Holder is scheduled to visit the U.S. attorney's office in Scranton, Pa., where he had his first victory as a trial attorney for the Justice Department in the late 1970s. That visit will complete his goal of visiting all 93 U.S. attorney's offices during his tenure as attorney general.

Holder has expressed no specific plans for retirement. After visiting Ferguson, Mo., last month, he told friends and colleagues he wants to help rebuild trust between police and minority communities.

"I will never leave the work," Holder said at the White House on Thursday. "I will continue to serve and try to find ways to make our nation even more true to its founding ideals."

Contributing: David Jackson and Martha T. Moore in New York; Kevin Johnson in Wilmington, Del.; Catalina Camia, Susan Davis, Richard J. Wolf and Greg Toppo in Washington. Follow @gregorykorte on Twitter.