Mr. Garland most recently served as a federal appeals judge for the District of Columbia Circuit. He submitted a letter of resignation to the court on Wednesday, pending his inauguration as attorney general.
But he is best known for the Republicans’ refusal to consider his 2016 appointment to serve on the Supreme Court, a game of political power that ended up allowing Trump to occupy the seat.
Garland is also a longtime veteran of the Department of Justice, having served as a federal prosecutor in the United States attorney’s office in Washington during the George HW Bush administration and as a department official during the Clinton administration.
During that time, Garland led the investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, which killed 168 people, then the worst terrorist attack on American soil. Garland promised during his confirmation hearing, weeks after the Capitol riot by a pro-Trump crowd, to use all the department’s strength to combat domestic extremism.
Garland spent most of Thursday in private meetings with senior department officials, including Christopher A. Wray, the director of the FBI; John P. Carlin, the acting assistant attorney general; John C. Demers, head of the national security division; and Michael R. Sherwin, the federal prosecutor who oversees the department’s extensive investigation of the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill.
On an afternoon visit to the United States Attorney General’s office in Washington, Garland personally thanked several officials for their work in the investigation, including Channing D. Phillips, the United States attorney general; his deputy, Ken Kohl; and the promoters leading the effort, including JP Cooney, Michelle Zamarin, Gregg Maisel and John Crabb.
In a virtual meeting with all office staff, Garland praised his efforts to mitigate the threat in the weeks after the attack on the Capitol and reiterated the importance of the investigation, according to one participant.