During Merrick Garland’s confirmation hearing opening statement, he spoke of “reaffirm[ing] that the role of the Attorney General is to serve the Rule of Law.” Similarly, Joe Biden spoke the need for the attorney general and the Justice Department to be independent from the president, arguing that President Trump had “treated the attorney general as his personal lawyer and the Department as his personal law firm.” Merrick Garland’s attempts to revitalize the tradition of an independent and apolitical DOJ will have the added burden of two highly politicized criminal cases.
Most Americans know Garland as former President Obama’s failed Supreme Court nominee. Prior to that, Garland’s career has been a successful navigation through the waters of partisanship. He worked briefly in the private sector before working as a federal prosecutor in George H.W. Bush’s administration. He would later serve in the Justice Department, where he worked to bring both Ted Kaczynski and Timothy McVeigh to justice. His work earned him bipartisan support during his nomination to the D.C. Circuit court. He earned the praise of both Chief Justice John Roberts and former chairman of the judiciary committee Orin Hatch. According to Yale law professor Akhil Amar, “he has a reputation for being a judge’s judge rather than a liberal’s liberal.”
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