Eric Holder Resigns: Republican Lawmakers Celebrate Attorney General's Resignation On Twitter

Republican lawmakers could barely contain their glee Thursday amid reports that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was preparing to resign from his leadership post at the Justice Department. The Obama administration has never enjoyed a cozy relationship with the GOP, but the Republican-led U.S. House has had an especially tense relationship with Holder after disagreements over government transparency, the persecution of terrorists on U.S. soil, and voting access.

It wasn't immediately clear why Holder is leaving his post midway through Obama's second term. While he had previously hinted that he might leave the Justice Department before 2015, the sudden resignation announcement Thursday seemed to come at a difficult time for Obama, who was in New York meeting with global leaders at the United Nations. A Department of Justice spokeswoman declined to confirm the resignation Thursday morning, while the White House signaled that the official announcement would come in the afternoon.

During his six years as the nation's top law enforcement official, Holder presided over an unprecedented series of prosecutions of alleged government leakers and was found in contempt by the House of Representatives, a first for a U.S. attorney general, according to the New Yorker. He also was protective of votings rights and criticized GOP state lawmakers' efforts to pass stricter voter identification laws.

Republicans, it's clear, won't miss Holder. Many GOP U.S. lawmakers immediately took to Twitter Thursday to bid Holder farewell.