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The Senate narrowly confirmed Vanita Gupta to be associate attorney general Wednesday in a 51-49 vote, CNN reports. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski broke ranks and voted to confirm Democratic President Joe Biden’s pick.
Gupta received heavy criticism from the GOP in the weeks leading up to her confirmation claiming she was a “radical” who wanted to defund the police, POLITICO reports. The party maintained that all 50 Republican Senators would vote against Gupta’s confirmation.
Alaska Senator Murkowski, however, decided to vote to confirm Gupta after a lengthy conversation with the nominee. They discussed issues that were important to the Senator, like addressing domestic violence.
“I felt that I was speaking to a woman who had not only committed her professional life to try to get the base of these injustices, to try to not just direct a little bit of money, put a program in place, and walk away and call it a day,” Murkowski said according to POLITICO. “But to try to truly make a difference.”
Gupta will be the first woman of color to serve as associate attorney general, CNN reports. She will work under Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco as the No. 3 Justice Department official.
Gupta was head of the civil rights division under former President Barack Obama. She will be the first civil rights attorney to serve as associate attorney general.
“That’s shocking, really,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said according to CNN. “We never have had a former civil rights attorney serving in such a prominent serving in such a position of prominence at the Justice Department. In that sense alone, Ms. Gupta would bring a long overdue perspective to our federal law enforcement agency.”
Asian Americans Advancing Justice issued a statement praising Gupta’s confirmation as a “historic moment.” The organization called Gupta a “trailblazer in the civil rights community.”
“It is meaningful to see a child of immigrants step into such an important leadership position in the Biden-Harris Administration,” the statement read. “Advancing Justice – AAJC has witnessed Vanita’s tireless dedication for the last three years as the head of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.”
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