Washington – The Senate is due to confirm Judge Merrick Garland as Attorney General on Wednesday, five years after he was barred from being considered the candidate of former President Barack Obama for the Supreme Court.
Garland’s nomination must be approved with bipartisan support. The Senate Judiciary Committee last week advanced his appointment with a 15 to 7 vote, with four Republicans joining each Democrat in support of Garland. Even Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, who was instrumental in preventing Garland from receiving confirmation hearings in 2016, said he will support Garland’s nomination.
Garland, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge for the District of Columbia Circuit, will take over the Department of Justice’s reins as federal prosecutors across the country pursue hundreds of cases against those involved in the Capitol riots on January 6.
During your confirmation hearings Last month, Garland also pledged to depoliticise the Department of Justice. Under former President Donald Trump, the department has been involved in political scandals involving Trump’s closest allies, prompting the president to accuse the department of being biased against him. Democrats have accused former attorney general William Barr of acting as the president’s personal lawyer in handling these cases.
Garland promised that, as attorney general, he would act in the interests of the American people and promised that he would fight against efforts to make the processes or investigations partisan or political.
“I am not the president’s attorney. I am the attorney for the United States,” he said.
Garland was appointed by Obama to occupy the vacant Supreme Court seat after the death of Judge Antonin Scalia in February 2016, but Republicans prevented him from being considered, arguing that the seat should not be occupied during an election year. The chair was later occupied by Judge Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s nominee. The Republican-controlled Senate later confirmed Judge Amy Coney Barrett to court a few days before the 2020 presidential election.
The Senate will also vote Wednesday to confirm Congresswoman Marcia Fudge as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Fudge, former president of Congressional Black Caucus, will be the second black woman to lead the department. Patricia Roberts Harris held the position of Jimmy Carter, becoming the first black woman to be a member of the Cabinet.
Fudge said during his confirmation hearings that he wanted to review the country’s housing policies and focus on providing more housing for the most vulnerable. It was confirmed by a 66-34 vote.