President Barack Obama announced the resignation of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. at the White House Thursday, praising Holder’s track record during his six-year-tenure.

Holder thanked Obama for allowing him to serve in, what he called, “the greatest honor of my professional life.”

“I will leave the Department of Justice, but I will never — I will never leave the work,” Holder said. “I will continue to serve and try to find ways to make our nation even more true to its founding ideals.”