The Senate has agreed to vote on the confirmation of attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch.
It's been a long time coming. The US attorney for Eastern New York was tapped by President Obama for the Department of Justice top job five months ago. But the process got tied up in a Republican bill on human trafficking.
Now that lawmakers have that bill figured out, Lynch is expected to jump the final hurdle to become the nation's first African-American female US attorney general.
If she's confirmed, what impact might her appointment have on a variety of hot-button legal issues?
Timothy Phelps covers the Justice Department for the Los Angeles Times, and he spoke with Take Two about Lynch's interesting personal history, and her tough record prosecuting police brutality and organized crime cases.
Phelps also talked about Lynch's stance on recreational marijuana, which could become legal in California in 2016 (a recent survey showed most voters support legalization).
Early in Lynch's confirmation hearings, she told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she does not support legalizing marijuana — which could become an issue if pot prohibition ends in the Golden State next year.