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Biden introduces Judge Merrick Garland as attorney general pick, key DOJ nominees
WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — President-elect Joe Biden formally introduced Judge Merrick Garland as his pick for attorney general on Thursday, along with three other nominees to lead the U.S. Justice Department.
Biden announced the nominations from an event in Wilmington, Delaware, on Thursday. He introduced Lisa Monaco as his nominee for deputy attorney general, Vanita Gupta for associate attorney general, and Kristen Clarke for assistant attorney general for the department’s Civil Rights Division.
“These leaders, all of whom are Justice Department veterans, will renew Americans’ faith in the rule of law and work tirelessly to build a more equitable justice system,” Biden’s transition team said in a statement on the same day that Congress certified the president-elect’s Electoral College win.
The event also follows Biden’s address to the nation Wednesday afternoon after the Senate and House’s joint session was delayed by President Donald Trump’s supporters storming the Capitol. Biden condemned the violence and asked the president to publicly “demand an end to this siege.”
Shortly after the certification, President Trump issued a statement promising an “orderly transition on January 20th.”
Garland, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, must win Senate approval to serve as U.S. attorney general. Republicans in the chamber had refused to grant him a hearing when former Democratic President Barack Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court in 2016.
Garland held senior positions at the Justice Department decades ago, including as a supervisor of the prosecution of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Garland was selected over other finalists including former Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. His confirmation prospects were solidified as Democrats on Wednesday scored control of the Senate majority by winning both Georgia Senate seats.
It is rare but not unprecedented for attorneys general to have previously served as judges. It happened in 2007 when President George W. Bush picked Michael Mukasey, a former federal judge in Manhattan, for the job. President Barack Obama’s first attorney general, Eric Holder, had also previously been a Superior Court judge in the District of Columbia.