Eric Holder to Step Down as Attorney General

WASHINGTON—Attorney General Eric Holder will resign as the nation's top law-enforcement official, President Barack Obama said Thursday, but will remain in office until a successor is confirmed.

Mr. Holder, who has been in the job since the beginning of the Obama administration, has long signaled he plans to leave the job by the end of 2014. He could ultimately stay in his post beyond year-end if the White House's nomination process doesn't go smoothly.

Mr. Holder, who has been in the job since the beginning of the Obama administration, has long signaled he plans to leave the job by the end of 2014. He could ultimately stay in his post beyond year-end if the White House's nomination process doesn't go smoothly. Mr. Obama hasn't yet chosen a successor, a White House official said.

An official said the attorney general and the president have had several discussions about his planned departure, which were completed at a Labor Day meeting at the White House. The attorney general has been asking for such a conversation for months, according to people close to him, and had planned to discuss his departure with the president in August when they both vacationed on Martha's Vineyard. The two did speak, but they were consumed with responding to the crisis in Ferguson, Mo., where angry protesters repeatedly clashed with heavily armed police after an officer shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old.

Among those mentioned as possible successors is former White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, according to people familiar with the discussions. She and Mr. Holder had dinner together at a Washington restaurant last month. Ms. Ruemmler is highly regarded by the president and senior White House officials, according to these people, but picking someone who was part of the president's inner circle could prompt resistance among Senate Republicans.

Another candidate being considered by the White House is Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, who argued the government's case in the 2012 challenge to the Affordable Care Act before the Supreme Court. His performance included some stumbles, including choking momentarily during his defense of the president's main legislative achievement. Mr. Verrilli was redeemed when the Supreme Court ruled in the administration's favor and largely upheld the law.

Other names that have been mentioned as possible successors include Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who said Thursday he wasn't interested in the job, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, and Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch.

The first black attorney general, Mr. Holder is one of a handful of remaining cabinet members whose tenures date back to the beginning of the Obama administration.

Mr. Holder's last year on the job has been marked by a push to strike multibillion-dollar settlements with big banks over their conduct leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, in the face of criticism that he failed to charge any senior executives for their roles in the meltdown. His department recently extracted a record $16.65 billion from Bank of America Corp. for its sale of flawed mortgages, and last year it reached a $13 billion mortgage settlement with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.