The Senate voted on Wednesday to confirm Merrick Garland as the US Attorney General, handing the reins of the Department of Justice to a longtime federal judge who promised to depoliticize the agency.
It was confirmed by a 70 to 30 vote. Among the Republicans who voted for Garland were Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Republicans who voted against Garland included two likely presidential candidates in 2024, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas.
“America can breathe a sigh of relief because we will finally have someone like Merrick Garland leading the Department of Justice. Someone with integrity, independence, respect for the rule of law and credibility on both sides of the corridor. He understands that the prosecutor’s job -General is to protect the rule of law, unlike previous Attorneys General under President Trump, “said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., before the vote.
The bipartisan vote took place almost five years after the day that Garland was appointed to the United States Supreme Court by then President Barack Obama, after the death of Judge Antonin Scalia. The Senate led by McConnell and controlled by Republicans refused to even consider his nomination and the chair was eventually filled by Neil Gorsuch, who was nominated by President Donald Trump.
Reaching the 70-vote mark was a strong display for Garland. In recent decades, the majority of AGs have been confirmed with votes in the 1950s and 1960s, with two notable exceptions. Eric Holder, the first African American nominee, was confirmed with 75 votes, and Janet Reno, the first woman to serve as AG, was confirmed 98-0.
Garland, 68, has been a judge of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia since 1997 and was its chief judge from 2013 to 2020. He is a veteran of the Department of Justice, where he oversaw domestic terrorism cases, including lawsuits arising from the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building.
At his confirmation hearing last month, Garland said that one of his most urgent tasks would be “to oversee the prosecution of white supremacists and others who invaded the Capitol on January 6 – a heinous attack that sought to break a cornerstone of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government. “
Garland said he did not rule out investigating those who financed, organized, led and helped attack the Capitol.
“We start with people on the ground and move on to those who are involved and even more involved, and we will look for those clues wherever they take us,” he said.
He also emphasized that he would protect the Justice Department from political interference by the White House. Trump’s attorney general, William Barr, was frequently accused by federal judges and others of putting Trump’s interests ahead of those of the department.
Garland has a few cases with political charges awaiting him, including the investigation by John Durham’s special attorney on the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation and a tax investigation involving Hunter, Biden’s son.
Garland said at his confirmation hearing that he had not discussed the Hunter Biden case with the president and that Biden made it “quite clear” that decisions on investigations and prosecutions will be left to the Justice Department.
When his appointment was announced in January, Garland said he would endeavor to ensure that “similar cases are treated in the same way, that there is no one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans, one rule for friends and another for enemies” .
Frank Thorp V contributed.