President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Merrick Garland, the federal judge who Republicans denied a seat on the Supreme Court in 2016, to serve as his attorney general, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News Wednesday.
News of Biden’s choice of Garland was first reported by Politico.
Garland, 68, has served as a circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 1997.
With Democrats expected to win a Senate majority after strong showings in both of Georgia’s runoff races, they would likely have an easier path in both confirming Garland as attorney general — and the nominee eventually named to replace him on the court.
Jan. 6, 202101:44
Democrat Raphael Warnock defeated Republican Kelly Loeffler Tuesday, NBC News projected, while Democrat Jon Ossoff is leading Republican David Perdue in the remaining critical runoff election in Georgia that will determine control of the Senate and potentially the fate of Joe Biden’s presidency.
If Ossoff wins, Democrats will retake control of the chamber, meaning Republicans won’t be able to block Biden’s Cabinet appointments and judicial picks or as easily limit his legislative agenda.
Garland, a veteran jurist and a moderate, is seen as someone who could help restore the Justice Department’s independence — a Biden priority after criticism that Trump exerted too much influence over the department. His nomination would also allow Biden to appoint a younger judge to the critical D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Biden advisers have discussed Ketanji Brown Jackson, 50, currently a judge on the U.S. District Court for D.C., to replace Garland on the D.C. Circuit court, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.
NBC News had reported last month that Biden has also been considering former Alabama Sen. Doug Jones and Sally Yates, a former deputy attorney general to be his attorney general.
Garland rose to prominence in 2016 after then-President Barack Obama nominated him to fill the Supreme Court vacancy that opened up after the sudden death of conservative jurist Antonin Scalia.
But Senate Republicans, who controlled the chamber then, refused to even hold a hearing for him, let alone a vote. They cited at the time something they dubbed the”Biden Rule” on judicial nominee hearings during election years, claiming that, Supreme Court vacancies that emerge during election years should be filled by the next elected president.
President Donald Trump ultimately nominated Neil Gorusch for Scalia’s seat and the GOP-controlled Senate confirmed him in 2017.
However, Senate Republicans disregarded that so-called rule four years later, when, just days before the 2020 election, they voted to confirm to the high court Amy Coney Barrett, who had been nominated by President Donald Trump to fill the vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
