President Obama announced Thursday that Attorney General Eric Holder will be resigning after 6 years in office. He will remain in office until a successor is confirmed.

Holder has been a champion of civil rights and equality as the first African-American to hold the title. He thanked the President for the “greatest honor of my professional life” and said he “will never leave the work.”

“I will continue to serve and try to find ways to make our nation even more true to its founding ideals,” he continued in a press conference with President Obama standing at his side.

President Obama then spoke, thanking Holder for a “superb job” and commending him on bringing down the crime rate, lowering the incarceration rate, the hundreds of terror cases he has prosecuted and how he “rooted out corruption and fought violent crime,” and how he has handled financial fraud and “attacks on the Voting Rights Act.”

Holder had said he had not intended to stay through the President’s second term.

“I’m confident we’re in a good place,” Holder said. “Now was a good time to go [with] those accomplishments in the last few years in place.”

“I think I go out having accomplished a great deal in the areas that are of importance to me. I’m satisfied with the work we have done.”

Holder has been discussing this at length with President Obama, and while he is stepping down, he has and always will love the Justice Department.

But Republicans are not sad to see him go, and they took to Twitter to vent their frustration with him.

Good riddance Eric Holder. Your disregard for the Constitution of the United States will not be missed.

— Rep. Jeff Duncan (@RepJeffDuncan) September 25, 2014

Eric Holder's resignation as AG is long overdue. Lets win the U.S. Senate so we can ensure Obama's next AG isn't as extreme as he is.

— The RGA (@GOPGovs) September 25, 2014

Anyone sad to see Eric Holder stepping down as AG? Not me. I can’t think of any AG in history who has attacked Louisiana more than Holder.

— David Vitter (@DavidVitter) September 25, 2014

Some have been a bit nicer, like this one from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC):

I appreciate AG Holder’s service to our country even though we had strong disagreements at times. I wish him well in future endeavors.

— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) September 25, 2014

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Democrats have been quick to praise him despite the attacks.

Eric Holder is a good friend, a great public servant, and an outstanding attorney general. Most importantly, a man of great character. -VP

— VP Biden (Archived) (@VP44) September 25, 2014

One of Eric Holder's lasting legacies will be his determined effort to address issues affecting the civil rights of all Americans.

— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) September 25, 2014

And now we start the quest to figure out who will be replacing him, and how long it takes them to cross through all of the approvals from Republicans!

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