Attorney general nominee Merrick Garland is expected to cruise through the confirmation process.
Snubbed high court pick is nominee for AG
WASHINGTON — The last time Merrick Garland was nominated by the White House for a job, Republicans wouldn’t even meet with him.
Now, the once-snubbed Supreme Court pick will finally come before the Senate, this time as President Joe Biden’s choice for attorney general. Garland, an appeals court judge, is widely expected to sail through his confirmation process, which begins Monday before the Democratic-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee, with bipartisan support.
“Judge Garland’s extensive legal experience makes him well-suited to lead the Department of Justice, and I appreciated his commitment to keep politics out of the Justice Department,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-texas, said in a statement. “Unless I hear something new, I expect to support his nomination before the full Senate.”
Garland’s high court nomination by President Barack Obama in 2016 died because the Republican-controlled Senate refused to hold a hearing.
Garland will inherit a Justice Department that endured a tumultuous time under President Donald Trump.
The department’s priorities and messaging are expected to shift drastically in the Biden administration, with a focus more on civil rights issues, criminal justice overhauls and policing policies in the wake of nationwide protests over the death of
Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement.
Garland plans to tell senators the department must ensure laws are “fairly and faithfully enforced” and the rights of all Americans are protected, while reaffirming an adherence to policies to protect its political independence, with the attorney general acting as a lawyer for the American people, not for the president. The Justice Department on late Saturday released a copy of Garland’s opening statement.
Garland will also confront some immediate challenges, including the criminal tax investigation into Biden’s son, Hunter, and calls from some Democrats to investigate Trump, especially after thousands of proTrump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as Congress was meeting to certify Biden’s electoral win.