Garland is Biden’s AG pick: source

President-elect Joe Biden plans to pick Merrick Garland as his attorney general, a source familiar with the matter told the Daily News on Wednesday, putting the one-time Supreme Court nominee in one of the most high-profile jobs of his administration.

Garland, whose Supreme Court nomination was infamously blocked by Senate Republicans in 2016, would if confirmed as attorney general oversee any potential federal prosecutions of Donald Trump once he leaves office and loses his presidential immunity on Jan. 20.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source called the Garland nomination “phenomenal” and said Biden picked him because he’s “a serious jurist” and “an experienced legal mind.”

A spokesman for Biden’s transition team declined to comment.

It was not immediately clear when Biden will formally announce the Garland nomination, which was first reported by Politico.

Word of the Garland pick comes as Democrats are poised to take over majority control of the Senate in light of the defeat of both Republican incumbents in Georgia’s critical Tuesday runoff elections.

A Democratic Senate majority will provide a glide-path to confirmation for Biden’s cabinet nominees and give the soon-to-be president major incentive to pursue ambitious policy goals.

In addition to Garland, Biden was for a time considering Gov. Cuomo for the AG post, according to reports.

Garland, who currently serves as a judge on the prestigious U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., was nominated by President Barack Obama to fill the Supreme Court seat left open by the February 2016 death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refused to even let the chamber consider Obama’s nomination of Garland, citing the supposed proximity to that year’s presidential election.

After the 2016 election, McConnell barreled ahead with confirming Trump’s first Supreme Court pick, Justice Neil Gorsuch, to fill Scalia’s seat.

This past fall, McConnell similarly rammed through Trump’s nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat left open by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg even though the Nov. 3 election was just weeks away.

With the Senate falling under Democratic control this year, McConnell will be demoted to minority leader and won’t have the power to block Garland’s nomination a second time.