U.S. Attorney General Holder resigns

President Barack Obama’s announcement on Thursday that Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. would leave the administration sets up an election-season scramble for a replacement to carry on Holder’s civil rights crusade, wage rhetorical combat with Congress and manage the legal complexities of a presidency increasingly drawn into war with terrorists, according to the New York Times.

Holder, 63, was the nation's first black attorney general.

According to the Times, Holder's resignation did not come as a surprise, as he previously said he planned to leave office by the end of 2014 after six years on the job.

Frequently mentioned candidates to replace Holder include Kathryn Ruemmler, the former White House counsel who remains close to Obama; Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts; Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr.; former Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan; Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, a former prosecutor; Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York; and Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn. Patrick on Thursday said it was not the right time for him to take such a job.

Read more from the New York Times.