President-elect Biden has reportedly picked judge Merrick Garland, a former federal appeals court judge who was snubbed by the Republicans for a seat on the country’s apex court, as his attorney general. The attorney general is the chief lawyer for the federal government and heads the US Justice Department.
As per media reports, Biden is likely to announce his appointment on Thursday, along with other senior leaders of the department, including former Justice Department civil rights chief Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general and former homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general.
More:
- As Trump names Barrett Supreme Court nominee, focus shifts to Senate
- Supreme Court Struggling With Race Cases
Politico first reported the likely nomination for the important post, quoting senior Democratic sources. Many political experts have suggested that by picking Garland as his attorney general, who in his decades-long career held senior positions in the Justice Department, including as the supervisor of the investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
During the previous administration, Garland was also nominated to the Supreme Court bench by the former president Barrack Obama, but the Republican-led Senate refused to hold meetings on the judge’s confirmation. Currently, he remains an appeals court judge in the District of Columbia Circuit.
President-elect’s pick is likely to force Republican congressional leaders to confirm his nomination after they spurned him in 2016, declining to even hold meetings when a vacancy on the Apex court’s bench rose. But experts have suggested that Biden might be cashing on Garland’s reputation and credentials. Senator Lindsay Graham, a Republican, took to Twitter and said that Garland would be a perfect choice for the critical office. He said, “He is a man of great character, integrity, and tremendous competency in the law.”
