Pete Williams of NBC is reporting that Barack Obama has offered the job of Attorney General to Eric Holder, a former Justice Department number two man under President Bill Clinton. From NBC:

President-elect Obama has offered Eric Holder the position of attorney general, and Holder has accepted it, according to sources involved in the process. The formal announcement has been held up while Obama transition team members ran the idea past key senators. And Obama wanted to announce members of his financial team first — Treasury Secretary and so on.

Holder was an acting A.G. when the Marc Rich pardon was issued by Clinton, and he took some heat for that.

His only potential hang-up for confirmation is the controversy over the pardon of Marc Rich in the closing hours of the Clinton administration. Holder approved the pardon as acting attorney general, after Reno left, without paying much attention to it, and it turned out to be a big embarrassment to Clinton.

So far, the Hill response to Holder has been positive, officials say.

The offer to Holder was made last week, officials say, and he accepted it, conditioned on a good reception from the Hill. So this is as close to a done deal as it can get before it’s announced.

So much for all the talk about Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick being named Attorney General. Holder has been through three separate Senate confirmations without ever having received a no vote. Quite an impressive feat.