Attorney General Candidate Merrick Garland testified during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Washington, DC, on February 22, 2021.
Drew Angerer | Swimming pool | Reuters
The Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm Merrick Garland as attorney general, and put the federal appeals court judge and the Supreme Court at the helm of a central agency on President Joe’s domestic policy agenda. Biden.
Voting was from 70 to 30.
Garland takes over as head of the Justice Department as the agency continues to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, one of the largest probes in its history. Garland has made research his number 1 priority.
The Department of Justice will also be crucial in adopting Biden’s comprehensive civil rights enforcement and criminal justice reform plans. The department is likely to make important decisions in the coming years on regulating the country’s largest technology companies, which some lawmakers are pushing to break.
Garland pledged to defend the independence of the Justice Department during court hearings last month. Biden has made restoring the traditional distance between the department and White House policymakers one of the top priorities.
“I wouldn’t have taken on this job if I thought politics would have any influence on processes and investigations,” Garland told lawmakers at his hearing. He said he and Biden had not discussed an ongoing investigation into the tax affairs of Hunter Biden, the president’s son.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., applauded Garland’s nomination ahead of Wednesday’s vote.
“The United States can breathe a sigh of relief that we will finally have someone like Merrick Garland at the head of the Justice Department. Someone with integrity, independence, respect for the rule of law and credibility on both sides of the aisle,” Schumer said from the Senate floor. “He understands that the Attorney General’s job is to protect the rule of law, unlike President Trump’s previous attorneys general.”
Before Biden approved Garland for attorney general, the centrist lawyer was appointed by former President Barack Obama for a seat on the Supreme Court in 2016 after the death of Judge Antonin Scalia. Republicans at the time controlled the Senate and refused to hold a hearing on his nomination.
The Senate is still considering several other Department of Justice nominees, including Vanita Gupta, Kristen Clarke and Lisa Monaco. Gupta and Monaco clashed on Tuesday with questions from senators.
Gupta, who headed the Justice Department’s civil rights division under Obama, is nominated to become an associate attorney general. Clarke is nominated to be the head of the civil rights division. Biden appointed Monaco as Deputy Attorney General.
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