US Senate approves William Barr as attorney general

The US Senate on Thursday (local time) voted to confirm William Barr as the nation's next attorney general, putting him in charge of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into alleged Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential elections.

The Senate voted 54-45 for Barr's nomination. The veteran lawyer is expected to take oath before the end of this week.

Barr became the first confirmed chief of the Justice Department, barely few months after Jeff Sessions stepped down from his post after he was at loggerheads with Trump over a number of issues, The Hill reported.

Sessions, who tendered his resignation in November last year, had recused himself from Mueller's probe.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders termed Barr's approval as "a major victory for justice and the rule of law in America."

As attorney general, Barr is set to take part in Mueller's probe, which is investigating links between the Russian government and Trump's campaign. It is also probing whether the US President repeatedly tried to obstruct justice by interfering in the investigation.

While most Republicans voted to confirm Barr, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was the only Congressman in the party who voted against the 68-year-old lawyer.

This is not the first time Barr will take over as the attorney general.

He first served from 1991 to 1993 under late former US President George HW Bush.