Lincolnwood Native Merrick Garland Confirmed As Attorney General

Skokie IL

11 March, 2021

1:00 AM

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SKOKIE, IL — Forty years after he was voted the most intelligent boy at Niles West High School, Lincolnwood native Merrick Garland was confirmed by the U.S. Senate Wednesday as the 86th attorney general of the United States. Garland, 68, was nominated as the nation's top cop by President Joe Biden, five years after former President Barack Obama nominated him for the U.S. Supreme Court. He succeeds former Attorney General Bill Barr, who resigned in December after refuting unsubstantiated claims by former President Donald Trump that the November 2020 election had been stolen by Biden. The D.C. Circuit appellate judge was the valedictorian of the class of 1970 at Niles West High School. He went on to graduate Harvard Law School and later worked as a federal prosecutor, supervising the prosecution of Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell — who prevented Garland from becoming a Supreme Court Justice in 2016 when he blocked his nomination — said he was voting to confirm Garland because of "his long reputation as a straight shooter and a legal expert" and that his "left-of-center perspective" was still within the legal mainstream. "Let's hope our incoming attorney general applies that no-nonsense approach to the serious challenges facing the Department of Justice and our nation," McConnell said. Garland's nomination was widely seen as a redemption after McConnell had blocked his Supreme Court nomination, taking a huge political gamble after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia by saying that the next president should get the pick, not outgoing President Barack Obama. Trump was then down in the polls, but McConnell's bet paid off when the Republican won the presidency. Garland's nomination floundered for nine months, and he never got a hearing. "We can never erase the sad memory of what happened to Judge Merrick Garland five years ago in the United States Senate, but we can give this remarkable man an opportunity to write a new chapter of public service in his life," Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said before the vote. Related:Biden Selects Merrick Garland As Attorney GeneralBiden To Name Lincolnwood Native Merrick Garland As Attorney GeneralSupreme Court Nominee Merrick Garland Gives Niles West Commencement SpeechMerrick Garland To Deliver Keynote At His Lincolnwood Alma MaterObama Nominates Lincolnwood Native Merrick Garland to United States Supreme Court Sitting before the Judiciary panel last month, Garland sought to assure lawmakers that the Justice Department would remain politically independent on his watch. He said his first priority would be to combat extremist violence, with an initial focus on the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, promising lawmakers that he would provide federal prosecutors with any resources necessary to prosecute those involved. Garland will also inherit immediate political challenges, including an ongoing criminal tax investigation into Hunter Biden, the son of the president, as well as a federal probe into the overseas and business dealings of Rudy Giuliani, the former president's personal lawyer. A dispute over investigative tactics stalled the Giuliani investigation ahead of last year's presidential election. His confirmation also comes amid calls from many Democrats to pursue inquiries into Trump. Separately, Garland will also be responsible for overseeing a special counsel investigation into the origins of the Russia probe, which shadowed Trump's presidency for more than two years. Garland will be responsible for decisions on how to handle it and how much to make public. Prior to becoming a federal judge in 1997, Garland held senior positions at the Justice Department, including as a supervisor in the prosecution and execution of Timothy McVeigh over the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. His experience prosecuting domestic terrorism cases could prove exceptionally valuable as investigations into the Capitol insurrection progress. The department's priorities and messaging are expected to shift drastically in the Biden administration, with a focus more on civil rights issues, criminal justice overhauls and policing policies in the wake of nationwide protests over the death of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement. That expected shift prompted some Republicans to oppose Garland's nomination, including Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who said he believed the judge would be too soft on criminals and immigrants and "empower left wing radicals embedded inside the department." Garland emphasized his commitment to combating racial discrimination in policing, telling senators at his confirmation hearing that the U.S. doesn't "yet have equal justice." He also said he would prioritize confronting rise threats of domestic terrorism and extremist violence. At one point in the hearing, Garland held back tears when speaking about his grandparents, who fled Russia for the U.S. amid anti-Semitism and persecution. "The country took us in, and protected us, and I feel an obligation to the country to pay back, and this is the highest, best use of my own set of skills to pay back," Garland said. "So I very much want to be the kind of attorney general that you're saying I could become, and I'll do my best to become that kind of attorney general." Michael Balsamo, Mary Clare Jalonick and Lisa Mascaro, of the Associated Press, contributed to this report.