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The shadow of outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder loomed over Loretta Lynchs attorney general confirmation hearing underway before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

Offering her tentative praise, Republicans repeatedly aired their biggest complaints with Mr. Holders Justice Department from its handling of the IRS political targeting scandal to its backing of the presidents immigration actions while seeking to know if she would tread a different path.

Youre not Eric Holder are you? asked Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, asked her, provoking some laughter in the room. No, Im not sir, replied Ms. Lynch, who is currently the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y. and the first Obama cabinet nominee to go before the Senate since Republicans took control in the November election.

Heres WSJsdispatch from the hearing:

The first question from Sen. Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley (R., Iowa) related to the White Houses use of executive authority to make changes to immigration policy, with Mr. Grassley asking Ms. Lynch for her views on whether that was allowed.

Ms. Lynch said she had reviewed a Justice Department memo giving legal advice on immigration policy, and said, I dont see any reason to doubt the reasonableness of those views.

Ms. Lynch highlighted her resume and upbringing in North Carolina where she watched her parents fight segregation. She pledged to fairly apply federal law without letting bias influence her decisions and said she would uphold the U.S. Constitution.

I believe in the promise of America because I have lived the promise of America, she said.

She also said she would work to improve relations between police and minority groups, an issue shell have to confront if confirmed. Ms. Lynch will likely have to decide whether to charge police officers with civil rights violations in the killings of two unarmed young black men, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York City.

Few things have pained me more than the recent reports of tension and division between law enforcement and the communities we serve, she said. If confirmed as Attorney General, one of my key priorities would be to work to strengthen the vital relationships between our courageous law enforcement personnel and all the communities we serve.

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I Am Not Holder, Lynch Tells Senate at AG Confirmation Hearing