The Senate voted to confirm Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general on Wednesday, making her the first civil rights lawyer and the first woman of color to serve as the Justice Department’s No. 3 official.

Ms. Gupta will oversee the department’s vast civil division, which is tasked with defending the Biden administration in court, as well as its antitrust, tax, and environment and natural resources divisions. She will also oversee the Civil Rights Division, which she once led.