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In a stunning announcement U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has announced his resignation on Thursday after five and half years as the nation’s top law enforcement official.  Holder made history when President Obama selected him to be the nation’s first black attorney general.

National Public Radio reported Holder already is one of the longest-serving members of the Obama Cabinet and ranks as the fourth-longest tenured AG in history. Hundreds of employees waited in lines, stacked three rows deep, in early February 2009 to witness his return to the Justice Department, where he previously worked as a young corruption prosecutor and as deputy attorney general — the second in command — during the Clinton administration.

MSN reported the White House said that President Barack Obama would announce Holder’s departure later Thursday and that Holder planned to remain at the Justice Department until his successor was in place. White House officials said Obama had not made a final decision on a replacement for Holder, who was one of the most progressive voices in his Cabinet.

MSN continued to report as advisers to Obama and Holder said the attorney general had been planning his departure with the president for some time. Some possible candidates who have been discussed among administration officials include Solicitor General Don Verrilli, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a former Rhode Island attorney general.

During his time as U.S. Attorney General Holder faced many challenges facing the country such as the financial crisis which gripped the nation, and how to deal with the prosecution of terrorism suspects.

During Holder’s stewardship as the nation’s top law enforcement officer was not without controversy.  The Justice Department’s mishandling of Operation Fast and Furious, the targeting of various media organizations and reporters.

Holder has also overseen some of the many ongoing partisan investigations such the IRS targeting of conservative groups and the Benghazi investigations which have infuriated members of Congress for its slow pace and lack of commitment by Holder.

Real Clear Politics reported in the first year of his tenure, Holder was widely criticized by Republicans and some Democrats for his plan to try professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other alleged co-conspirators in New York. The plan was doomed by political opposition to granting civilian criminal trials to terrorist suspects, who arguably would have had greater legal protections in civilian courts than in military commissions. The attorney general gave up the effort, but he continued to maintain that civilian courts were the most appropriate venue. He argued that his original plan was vindicated by the successful prosecution in New York of Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law.

The resignation comes at precarious time for the president, with the pivotal mid-term elections in just over a month where the balance of power in the Senate is at stake.

The president can submit his nominee to the Democratic led Senate after the mid-term election as lame duck Senate Democratic majority can act on it by new rules enacted by current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Either way the new nominee will face withering attacks on a host of issues from Operation Face and Furious, IRS targeting scandal, and other topics.