The Biden Attorney General is looked at in a long Washington Post piece that portrays him as NOT coming down hard against the politicised Sessions and Barr US Justice Dept., but instead?
Working to return internal NON-Politics to the staff of the agency and the FBI…
This is NOT going down well to some Democrats…
But is part of Garland’s effort to take the politics out of the organization…
In addition?
Efforts to go to extraordinary length’s to counter Trumpism has been pushed aside by the new Attorney General who is somewhat like his boss President Biden who wants a /norm’ to return to things…
Yet land mines lie ahead — among them, ongoing probes of the Russia investigation, Hunter Biden and Rudy Giuliani. And is someone at Justice considering an obstruction case against Trump, now that he’s out of office, based on evidence amassed by Robert Mueller? How Garland explains decisions in such matters will test his ability to keep the public believing in the Justice Department.
Gray, his former law clerk, recalls that, at the beginning of the Obama administration, the department was buffeted by criticism over how it handled controversies left from the previous administration. Those got resolved, and the department set in motion its own proactive agenda. The same will happen for Garland, she predicts, and his time will be defined by the priorities Biden and he have already announced, such as voting rights, racial justice and criminal justice reform. “Those are the really big and exciting problems and challenges that I’m eager to see him tackle,” Gray says. “Those are the things that we’ll be … judging this Justice Department on.”
If the equanimity of the Garland era holds, when the next Republican takes the White House, the new administration will pursue its priorities at Justice within a more or less shared understanding of legal norms. Of course, given the volatility of American politics right now, the odds of that happening are far from assured. And so, we’ll also be judging Garland by another standard: how well his approach fortifies the institution against a future administration that once again disrespects norms and politicizes the rule of law….
Note…
Those worried about a post Biden President should understand….
If Trump or a Trump like person should become the next President?
Merrick Garland would be unemployed….
These days Some Republicans do NOT see the rules as something they would follow if they don’t benefit them….
image…Ken Cedeno/Reuters
It goes down fine with me.
Jack?
U view on Garlands internal ‘stay the course’ vs the requests to hunt down all vestiges of Trumpism with-in the department?
Garland is acting like an AG should .
I agree Jack…..
Just cause tge other guy sbused the system does not mean Garland should….
James, You appear to imply that Presidents don’t typically choose their own Attorney General. If a Trumpist or a non-Trumpist Republican wins the next Presidential election, Garland is gone. He might not even remain if a Democrat other than Biden is elected.
I in-fact mean exactly THAT….
AG ‘s are suppose ti have their job for 6 years to inoculate them from politics….
But Trump reminded everyone that EVERYONE in the executive branch serves at the pleasure of the CHIEF executive….and CAN be fired at ANYTIME without cause
You are confused with FBI Directors who have set 10 year terms.
US AG’s are not supposed to serve for six years and almost never do. They are Cabinet officials. It is not the same thing. Considering Garland’s age, he is likely not expecting to have the job after 2024 and might leave earlier.
Ur right CG…..
My mistake….
The BASIC IS the same though….
There is NO guarantee against a President firing either….
Of course there is no guarantee that a new President won’t fire the existing Attorney General. But (as DSD illustrated) it only happened once since the 1860s that a new President kept the same AG.
Your initial statement and your response to me suggested it would be rather unusual for a new President to replace the existing AG. You do this a lot. When confronted that you made a foolish statement, you try to pretend that you actually have insights that the rest of us don’t have. This doesn’t make you appear more intelligent in any way – despite what you think.
If you notice Z?
I admitted I got the original statement incorrect but my basic IS correct….
EVERYBODY here HAS made a mistake….
I acknowledge most that I make here….
In my opinion, your factual mistakes here are much more numerous that all other posters combined.
That’s probably not unusual in one respect ,as the moderator and, by far ,most prolific poster here the sheer number of your posts would account for that fact.
However, many of them are so glaring that it does call into question your knowledge of basic governmental functions.
Ha, ha, ha!
Of COURSE i make MORE MISTAKES!
I write the vast majority of time here!
The AG is a political appointee just like every other Cabinet member.
Refer to DSDs list.
Herbert Brownell ,Bobby Kennedy, Ramsey Clark ,John Mitchell Griffin Bell, William French Smith, Ed Meese and others ,all had well known political connections with the Presidents that appointed them.
Several,like Bobby Kennedy, John Mitchell and Ed Meese ,were well known political advisors to the Presidents they served.
There is no mechanism to “inoculate “ them from politics.Some AGs have been more political than others.Some have even fallen out with the Presidents that appointed or inherited them and quit,Bobby Kennedy with LBJ ,Elliot Richardson with Nixon over the “Saturday Night Massacre ,” John Ashcroft , and Jeff Sessions.
Most of the time AGs function non politically and in the main their job is to enforce the law impartially but pretending that politics doesn’t often intrude on their performance is naive in the extreme.
Of course the best known “mechanism” to supposedly assure “ independence ” in an official is life tenure for federal judges .
I’m fundamentally opposed to such.Indeed ,in my view ,federal judges ,including Supreme Court Justices , should serve a single fixed term with no eligibility for reappointment,something like ten years.The idea that those in these positions must be allowed to serve until they themselves decide to leave(or die) strikes me as of no particular value.
I think the country would actually benefit from allowing a variety of individuals to serve in these positions .
Unfortunately, this “idea” is so ingrained in the body politic ,and changing it would be exceedingly difficult (requiring a constitutional amendment ) ,that it is highly unlikely to ever happen.
Interesting Jack…..
U alright with post on judges Jack?
Ok
I mostly agree with Jack, although I think that a judge should be able to be re-appointed after his term is over.
Agreed Jack….
Here’s a list of U.S. Attorneys General since William McKinley succeeded Grover Cleveland in 1897.
Some presidents (e.g. Wm Howard Taft) seem to have kept the same A-G throughout a single presidential term, but I the only one I can see who served continously for two terms or eight years seems to be Janet Reno. In most cases, their service is for less than four years.
Merrick Garland – 2021 – Present – Joe Biden
William Barr – 2019-2020 – Donald Trump
Jeff Sessions – 2017-2018 – Donald Trump
Loretta Lynch – 2015-2017 – Barack Obama
Eric Holder – 2009-2015 Barack Obama
Michael B. Mukasey – 2007-2009 – George W. Bush
Alberto R. Gonzales – 2005-2007 – George W. Bush
John Ashcroft – 2001-2005 – George W. Bush
Janet Reno – 1993-2001 – Bill Clinton
William Barr – 1991-1993 – George H. Bush
Richard Thornburgh – 1988-1991 – Ronald Reagan & George H. Bush
Edwin Meese III – 1985-1988 – Ronald Reagan
William French Smith – 1981-1985 – Ronald Reagan
Benjamin R. Civiletti – 1979-1981 – Jimmy Carter
Griffin B. Bell – 1977-1979 – Jimmy Carter
Edward H. Levi – 1975-1977 – Gerald Ford
William B. Saxbe – 1974-1975 – Richard Nixon
Elliot L. Richardson – 1973 – Richard Nixon
Richard G. Kleindienst – 1972-1973 – Richard Nixon
John N. Mitchell – 1969-1972 – Richard Nixon
Ramsey Clark – 1967-1969 – Lyndon B. Johnson
Nicholas de B. Katzenbach – 1965-1966 – Lyndon B. Johnson
Robert F. Kennedy – 1961-1964 – John F. Kennedy
William P. Rogers – (1957-1961) – Dwight D. Eisenhower
Herbert Brownell Jr. – (1953-1957) – Dwight D. Eisenhower
James P. McGranery – (1952-1953) – Harry S. Truman
J. Howard McGrath – (1949-1952) – Harry S. Truman
Tom C. Clark – (1945-1949) – Harry S. Truman
Francis Biddle – (1941-1945) – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Robert H. Jackson – (1940-1941) – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Frank Murphy – (1939-1940) – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Homer S. Cummings – (1933-1939) – Franklin D. Roosevelt
William D. Mitchell – (1929-1933) – Herbert Hoover
John G. Sargent – (1925-1929) – Calvin Coolidge
Harlan Fiske Stone – (1924-1925) – Calvin Coolidge
Harry M. Daugherty – (1921-1924) – Warren G. Harding
A. Mitchell Palmer – (1919-1921) – Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Watt Gregory – (1914-1919) – Woodrow Wilson
James C. McReynolds – (1913-1914) – Woodrow Wilson
George W. Wickersham – (1909-1913) – William Howard Taft
Charles J. Bonaparte – (1906-1909) – Theodore Roosevelt
William H. Moody – (1904-1906) – Theodore Roosevelt
Philander C. Knox – (1901-1904) – William McKinley
John W. Griggs – (1898-1901) – William McKinley
Joseph McKenna – (1897-1898) – William McKinley
https://www.usattorneylegalservices.com/us-attorney-general.html
I’m a little surprised at how many of these names I remember. I don’t recall Benjamin Civiletti, but.I at last vaguely recall all who subsequently followed.