U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to resign

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is resigning after heading the Justice Department for 6 years.

A White House official says U.S. President Barack Obama will announce Holder’s departure later Thursday.

Holder is the 82nd Attorney General and the first African American to serve in the role. He currently ranks as the fourth-longest serving Attorney General in United States history.

He is one of only three Cabinet members from Obama’s original team still serving in the post to which he was first named.

According to White House officials, Holder had discussed his plans personally with Obama on multiple occasions in recent months, and finalized those plans in an hour long conversation with the U.S. President at the White House residence over Labor Day weekend.

Holder plans to remain at the Justice Department until his successor is in place.