Holder has agreed to remain in his post until the confirmation of his successor, a Justice Department official confirmed to CNN.

At a formal announcement later Thursday, the attorney general plans to express his personal gratitude to President Barack Obama for the opportunity to serve in his administration and to lead the Justice Department, which he will call the “greatest honor of my professional life.”

Obama will address Holder’s resignation Thursday afternoon from the White House State Room.

Eric Holder’s legacy

An Obama administration official noted some of Holder’s accomplishments, saying the attorney general established a historic legacy of civil rights enforcement and restored fairness to the criminal justice system. “He revitalized the Justice Department’s praised Civil Rights Division, protected the rights of the LGBT community, successfully prosecuted terrorists, and fought tirelessly for voting rights, to name a few,” the official said.

Holder has discussed his plans personally with the President on multiple occasions in recent months, and finalized those plans in an hour-long conversation with Obama at the White House residence over Labor Day weekend, the official said.

Holder will note in his remarks that he has loved the Justice Department since, when he was a boy, he watched how — under Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy — the Justice Department played a leadership role in advancing the civil rights movement. During his tenure as attorney general, Holder has had Kennedy’s portrait in his conference room.

Controversy

Holder also has been criticized as being overtly political, and some Republican members of Congress are shedding few tears over his resignation. For instance, Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina tweeted, “Good riddance Eric Holder. Your disregard for the Constitution of the United States will not be missed.”

House Speaker John Boehner released a similar statement, saying Holder’s resignation is “long overdue.”

Some congressional Republicans have accused the attorney general of defying the 2013 Supreme Court ruling in Shelby v. Holder, which struck down a component of the Voting Rights Act, and they investigated him over Operation Fast and Furious.

In Fast and Furious, the so-called gun-walking operation, roughly 2,000 guns were allowed into Mexico with the goal of tracking them to Mexican drug cartels. Two guns found at the scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s fatal shooting in December 2010 were linked to the operation.

In June 2012, the House voted to hold Holder in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents linked to that operation.

Upon hearing the news of Holder’s resignation, House Oversight Committee Chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, who lead the contempt proceedings, called Holder “the most divisive U.S. Attorney General in modern history.”

Partisan support

But Holder has his supporters, including the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I particularly appreciate how Attorney General Holder has restored the Civil Rights Division to its historical mission,” Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said.

Leahy also pointed to the attorney general’s work on sentencing reforms and efforts to reduce recidivism rates.

Those sentiments were echoed by Rep. Marcia Fudge, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. She said Holder’s departure “will leave a significant void in this administration and in our nation.”

Tenure

The attorney general is one of only three remaining members of Obama’s original Cabinet.

In 2013, Holder described his first meeting with Obama, which occurred just after Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004.

“I sat next to him at this dinner and we just started talking about a variety of things, sports among them and criminal justice issues. And we saw that we had a lot of similar views and so we just started a relationship that was casual,” Holder said.

Holder was sworn in as the 82nd attorney general in February 2009 after serving as President Bill Clinton’s deputy attorney general, the first African-American to serve in that position.

Previously, the Columbia Law School graduate was U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and served during President Ronald Reagan’s administration as an associate judge at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

Wisconsin Congresswoman Gwen Moore has issued this statement to FOX6 News on the announcement that Eric Holder will resign:

“The resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder is a great loss for our country. As one of the Obama Administration’s leading progressive voices, Attorney General Holder led the charge in support of same-sex marriage, protecting our voting rights, and addressing the inequities in our criminal justice system. As the first African-American to serve as Attorney General, his honorable legacy of justice is nothing less than historic.

I have faith that President Obama will nominate a successor who not only shares Attorney General Holder’s commitment to social justice, but one who will follow in his footsteps in tackling the pressing issues facing Americans today.

From defending our country against acts of terror to protecting us against those who continue to target our civil rights, we owe Attorney General Holder our sincerest gratitude for his dedicated service to our nation. I wish him nothing but success in his future endeavors.”