His confirmation is finally coming up for a hearing and vote….
Garland is supported for the job by federal judges of both parties…
The former Federal judge getting into the Justice Dept. lead will have a wide ranging effect on several fronts in the next year…
Judge Merrick B. Garland plans to tell senators on Monday that he will restore the Justice Department’s commitment to equal justice under the law, combat a resurgent domestic terrorist threat and work to root out widespread discrimination should he be confirmed as attorney general.
Judge Garland laid out his top three priorities in an opening statement that he intends to deliver before the Judiciary Committee on Monday when he begins confirmation hearings.
When President Biden nominated Judge Garland last month for the top law enforcement job, he said that the Justice Department’s 20th-century fight against the Ku Klux Klan showed that addressing domestic terrorism and systemic racism were historically one and the same.
The fight described by Mr. Biden — “to stand up to the Klan, to stand up to racism, to take on domestic terrorism” — illustrated the Justice Department’s pledge to protect the nation’s most cherished ideals and institutions….
…
If confirmed as attorney general, Judge Garland will inherit a Justice Department that was deeply demoralized under President Donald J. Trump and his attorney general William P. Barr. Mr. Trump viewed the department as hostile toward him, treating it as either an enemy to be thwarted or a power to be wielded against his political enemies.
Mr. Barr’s tenure was largely shaped by the perception that he advanced the president’s personal and political agenda at the expense of the department’s independence, through actions such as undercutting its own inquiry into Russia and the Trump campaign. And his former deputies say that he was reluctant to take into account the recommendations of the department’s career employees, particularly on issues of interest to Mr. Trump….
image…The Hill/Haiyun Jiang
Garland hearing in Senate committee now going on….
Jim Sciutto
@jimsciutto
Sen. Graham’s questions to Garland go to several of Trump’s greatest hits: Portland violence, Durham investigation, whether Comey was a good FBI Dir, securing the border, Section 230 reform, before saying “I’m very inclined to support you.”
Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
In response to a question from Sheldon Whitehouse about ‘looking upstream’ to the funders and ringleaders of the Capitol attack, not just people in the Capitol, Merrick Garlands says: “We will pursue these leads wherever they take us.”
CSPAN
@cspan
Confirmation Hearing: Attorney General Nominee Merrick Garland continues – LIVE on C-SPAN,
@cspanRadio
& online here: https://c-span.org/video/?508877-2/attorney-general-nominee-merrick-garland-testifies-confirmation-hearing-part-2
Benjamin Wittes
@benjaminwittes
Replying to
@benjaminwittes
A reminder to Republican senators that Garland is (a) smarter than you are and (b) has sat on hundreds of oral arguments interacting with oral advocates who are better than you. He will be low key & polite. He always is. But you’re not gonna trip him. You’re not that formidable.
Benjamin Wittes
@benjaminwittes
Replying to
@benjaminwittes
In response to question on Hunter Biden case, Garland says he has had no conversations with the president about it. And he says that in all of their conversations, Joe Biden has insisted that investigative and prosecutorial decisions will be left in the hands of the Justice Dep.
Grassley Will Back Merrick Garland This Time
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that Merrick Garland “is a good pick to lead the Department of Justice,” Bloomberg reports.
“The comment from Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who called Garland well-qualified, was an early indication that Garland will receive bipartisan support when the nomination reaches the Senate floor.”
In 2016, Grassley blocked Garland from even having a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee following Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
Garland confirmation vote is today shortly
Breaking…
Jim Sciutto
@jimsciutto
New: Senate Judiciary has voted to send AG nomination of Merrick Garland to the full Senate for a vote
Vote was 15-7. Senators Grassley, Cornyn, Tillis and Graham joined Democrats voting Yes.
Republicans Lee, Cruz, Sasse, Hawley, Cotton, Kennedy, & Blackburn voted No
Update….
Seems Republican Senator’s are screwing with Garland’s confirmation vote….
Merrick Garland’s attorney general nomination is hitting GOP roadblocks that will likely delay his confirmation to lead the Justice Department until next week.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) — a member of the Judiciary Committee viewed as a potential 2024 contender — said on Wednesday that he is blocking an effort by Democrats to expedite Garland, whom they had hoped to confirm this week.
“Democrats are trying to expedite Judge Garland’s confirmation vote. I’m blocking them because Judge Garland has refused to answer basic questions, including whether illegally entering the country should remain a crime,” Cotton said in a string of tweets explaining his opposition.
Under the Senate’s rules, any one member can slow down a nomination and force Senate leadership to eat up days of time before a final vote….
More…
Cotton is screwing with the Garland confirmation vote….
The US Senate rule that has one knucklehead able to hold up a confirmation is asinine…..