Tag: Merrick Garland

Biden to pick Merrick Garland for attorney general

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President-elect Joe Biden will announce Judge Merrick Garland to be attorney general on Thursday, seeking to place in the nation’s top law enforcement job a respected federal appeals judge whose Supreme Court nomination Republicans blocked five years ago, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: News of the selection, first reported by Politico, came just hours after the nation learned that Democrats would likely win both Senate runoffs in Georgia and take control of the Senate, making it harder for Republicans to block nominations.

  • That applies not just the attorney general nominee himself, but also whomever Biden nominates to replace Garland as an appellant judge in a crucial circuit. Continue reading.

Merrick Garland was historically snubbed — but he’s emerged more respected than ever

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f the secret to life is good timing, then Judge Merrick Garland was the right man at the wrong time. ¶ Garland will be remembered as the Supreme Court nominee who dangled in the wind for eight months in 2016, waiting for a Senate hearing that never came. To Democrats, it was an outrage and a raw display of political power. To Republicans, it was an election-year gamble that paid off. Four years later, with the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, his name is back in the headlines — once again the rallying cry for a process critics say has been corrupted by partisanship and hypocrisy. ¶ “He is a martyr of the judicial wars,” says Ilya Shapiro, author of “Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America’s Highest Court.” In the nation’s history, Garland’s nomination was one of only 10 that the Senate refused to consider.

Even Republicans who blocked Garland’s confirmation never had a bad word to say about the man. In fact, they made a serious effort to recruit him as director of the FBI after President Trump fired James B. Comey in 2017 — arguing, without irony, that they wanted a man of unimpeachable integrity who would receive bipartisan support in the Senate.

Garland declined and stayed on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the second-most powerful court in the country. The past four years have been an ongoing vindication, of sorts, filled with honors and accomplishments. Most failed confirmations shrink the person; Garland may be the first in modern history who emerged with his reputation not only intact but enhanced. Continue reading.

Shadow of Merrick Garland Hangs Over the Next Supreme Court Fight

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The fight over the confirmation of Judge Garland in 2016 set the tone for an even more brutal battle over who should succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

WASHINGTON — On a Saturday evening in February 2016, just hours after Justice Antonin Scalia died during a hunting trip, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican majority leader, interrupted a Caribbean vacation to draw a line in the sand.

“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice,” he said. “Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”

At that very moment, Mr. McConnell changed the course of the court and every future confirmation battle to come. By the time President Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick B. Garland — a mild-mannered jurist with impeccable credentials, a moderate record and fans across the ideological spectrum — the Washington apparatus that gears up around Supreme Court nominations no longer felt quite the same. Continue reading.

Want to Know More About: Brett Kavanaugh and the Supreme Court?

John Dickerson: “The Senate Voted For Kavanaugh 50-48. The Closest Margin For Any High Court Nominee In 137 Years.” JOHN DICKERSON: “Newly confirmed Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh will go to the White House later today for a swearing in ceremony with president Trump. The senate voted for Kavanaugh 50-48. The closest margin for any high court nominee in 137 years.” [CBS This Morning, CBS, 10/8/18; Video]

Major Garrett: “The Kavanaugh Saga Was The Trump Presidency In Miniature, Polarizing, Loud, Traumatic, With Hardball Republican Tactics, Democratic Resistance And In The End A Very Narrow Vote That Produced A Lasting Result.” MAJOR GARRETT: “The Kavanaugh saga was the Trump presidency in miniature, polarizing, loud, traumatic, with hardball republican tactics, democratic resistance and in the end a very narrow vote that produced a lasting result. The saga, this clash polls tell us, has energized Republicans, but defeated Democrats have energy too born by anger and a sense of powerlessness of a war they were unable to stop.” [CBS This Morning, CBS, 10/8/18;Video]

Pete Williams: “Kavanaugh’s Influence Will Be Felt In A Few Ways, In Future Years, He’ll Vote On Issues Like Abortion, Affirmative Action, Presidential Power And The Limit Of Money And Politics.” WILLIAMS: “Kennedy in his later years sometimes voted with the liberals in some landmark cases, Canada’s influence will be felt in a few ways, in future years, he’ll vote on issues like abortion, affirmative action, presidential power and the limit of money and politics.” [Today, NBC, 10/8/18; VIDEO] Continue reading “Want to Know More About: Brett Kavanaugh and the Supreme Court?”