Senate Confirms Merrick Garland as US Attorney General

Caroline Brehman/Congressional Quarterly/Zuma

Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.The Senate overwhelmingly voted to confirm longtime federal judge Merrick Garland as US attorney general on Wednesday.
Garland was appointed to the Supreme Court by former President Barack Obama five years ago, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to bring his confirmation to a vote in the Senate, claiming that it was too close to the end of Obama’s term. (That logic did not extend to the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney-Barrett after Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death in the final months of Trump’s term.)
Today, McConnell was one of 70 senators to vote to approve Garland to lead the Justice Department. Among Garland’s first tasks could be investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol—and former President Donald Trump’s role in inciting it. As my colleague Kara Voght reported last month, he’s also setting his sights on police reform and combating domestic terrorism.