Nearly five years after Republican senators thwarted his confirmation plans as Supreme Court Justice, Judge Merrick Garland will appear in the Senate Monday for his first confirmation hearing as Attorney General to President Joe Biden.
It has been a long wait for Garland to be confirmed, although he will eventually run to the Senate for admission to another position.
Garland was nominated to Supreme Court Justice by President Barack Obama in March 2016 to fill the vacancy created after the death of Judge Antonin Scalia in February of the same year.
But the Republicans who controlled the Senate blocked his confirmation, arguing that it was an election year and should wait until after the election before the next president proposes a replacement for Scalia.
The Democrats shouted to heaven, but then-Senate caucus leader Mitch McConnell and Garland’s confirmation hearing never took place.
This time the story will be different. Garland’s confirmation seems imminent as Democrats now control both houses. Although the Senate is split 50-50, the Democrats have the backing of Vice President Kamala Harris as a draw.
“I am pleased to announce that the committee will continue to take the lead in a two-pronged way,” said panel chair Dick Durbin, a Democrat. PoliticsJudge Garland will serve the Department of Justice and our country with honor and integrity. He is a widely supported nominee who must be quickly confirmed on his merits.
Garland, 68, only participates on the first day of his hearing. On the second day, the Senate will hear witnesses. Senators can then hand him written questions on Wednesday, and Garland has until Feb. 28 to respond, according to the calendar of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The vote to confirm the committee is scheduled for March 1.
The memory of 2016 will be over. And the one who, once as president, nominated Donald Trump Neil Gorsuch as Scalia’s replacement.
Born in Illinois, Garland graduated as a lawyer from Harvard University. He is the grandson of immigrants who came to the United States after persecution in search of a better life, according to a White House biography.
Garland, nominated by President Joe Biden to the position of Attorney General on January 7, was president of the Federal Circuit of Appeals Courts for the District of Columbia. The magistrate left this position in February last year, but remains a circuit judge.
He was elevated to a federal circuit judge by former President Bill Clinton in 1997. Prior to that, Garland was a leading federal prosecutor overseeing the investigation of the 1996 Olympics bombings, which also killed two and injured more than 100. Oklahoma City bombing that killed more than 160 and injured hundreds in 1995.
Trump’s shadow
If confirmed, perhaps the most difficult political task for Garland will be deciding whether to investigate and bring Trump to justice. Biden has said that this decision lies with the Justice Department and that he will not intervene.
“You’re not the president’s or vice president’s attorney. You don’t owe me any loyalty. You owe it to the law, to the constitution, to the people of this country, ”Biden said, referring to Garland when he announced the appointment.
Senate Republicans are likely to take advantage of Garland’s hearing to ask him about his position on the investigations the Justice Department might conduct on Jan. 6.
Many Democrats believe the Justice Department should go after Trump for instigating the uprising of his followers on Jan. 6, when hundreds of attackers stormed the Capitol to thwart the Electoral College certification being conducted. Trump was charged with his role in the attack on the legislative seat, but was acquitted by the Senate with Republican backing.
Trump’s speech to his supporters shortly before the attack has already given rise to investigations, but it remains to be seen whether Congress will set up a special committee like the one formed after the September 11 attacks to conduct an extensive and lengthy investigation into the attack. to be carried out.
But Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, at the end of the impeachment trial, practically invited a criminal investigation into the former president, who he said was “ morally and practically ” responsible for the day’s violence (though he voted against his punishment).
Five years after blocking the passage of the Supreme Court, McConnell himself appears to have raised a delicate issue for the prospective attorney general.
