Tag Archives: Merrick Garland

ABC News reports: Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland will face another day of questioning Tuesday on how he’ll oversee probes ranging from the Jan. 6 Capitol breach to Hunter Biden’s business dealings — along with his stance on left-wing rioters in Portland and Seattle. Garland pledged during Monday’s hearing that handling the investigation into last month’s deadly siege on the …

The Washington Post reports: Attorney general nominee Merrick Garland said Monday that his first priority and briefing if confirmed as attorney general would center on the sprawling investigation into the Jan. 6 riot the U.S. Capitol. Testifying at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Garland drew parallels to the domestic terrorism threat the Justice Department faced in confronting …

CNN reports: At last, Merrick Garland gets his Senate confirmation hearing. Five years ago, Garland became the poster child for the Republican blockade of an open Supreme Court seat in the final year of President Barack Obama’s term when Senate Republicans denied even a hearing to the Supreme Court nominee. Now Garland gets another chance to go before the Senate …

Bloomberg News reports: Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general, is pledging he’ll take the lead in prosecuting participants in the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. “If confirmed, I will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on January 6 — a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone …

Politico reports: Joe Biden has selected Judge Merrick Garland to serve as his attorney general, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. Biden selected Garland over former Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) and former deputy attorney general Sally Yates, choosing to elevate the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals in D.C. to run the Justice Department. …

NPR reports: Federal appeals court Judge Merrick Garland is under consideration to serve as attorney general in the administration of President-elect Joe Biden, NPR has learned from two people closely following the process. Garland, 68, is the widely respected former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He launched his career at the Justice Department …

Iowa Starting Line reports: “I think we should have been a whole heck of a lot harder on [Mitch McConnell],” Biden said when asked if there was anything he and President Obama should have done differently on the Merrick Garland nomination. “I’d say, what are you doing, you’re setting a horrible precedent here. And the answer was, I know Joe, …

From McConnell’s interview with New York Times Magazine: When I asked McConnell how he felt about his legacy and Trump’s being so closely linked, he rejected the premise. “I don’t think so,” he said. “I think the most consequential call I made was before President Trump came to office.” I asked what he meant. “The decision not to fill the …

Talking Points Memo reports: In 2016, when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced Republicans’ plan to keep the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat open until the next president took office, a year away, he issued a conclusive statement. “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy …

The Washington Post reports: Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) privately urged President Trump in a phone call earlier this week to nominate federal Judge Merrick B. Garland, then President Barack Obama’s third nominee to the Supreme Court who was summarily shunned by Senate Republicans in 2016, to replace retiring Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Trump had called Schumer on …

The Washington Examiner reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s former chief of staff, Josh Holmes, on Sunday declared his old boss’s strong support for the potential nomination of Merrick Garland as FBI director. “I think the Senate majority leader thinks that’s a fantastic idea,” Holmes said during a panel discussion on “Fox News Sunday.” He was reacting to Sen. Mike …

Politico reports: The air war over Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee is already beginning, less than two weeks after the election. The conservative Judicial Crisis Network is launching an ad buy of more than $175,000 to applaud Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) for holding the line against President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. Grassley never allowed Garland …

But only if Hillary wins, of course. The Hill reports: The conservative group Heritage Action is pushing Republican senators to keep the Supreme Court at eight justices if Democrat Hillary Clinton is elected president. In a Thursday morning briefing at the Heritage Foundation’s Washington headquarters on Capitol Hill, the group said Republicans should embrace the idea of leaving the Supreme …

The Washington Post reports: Speaking to reporters after a campaign rally for a Republican U.S. Senate candidate here, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said that there was “precedent” for a Supreme Court with fewer than nine justices — appearing to suggest that the blockade on nominee Merrick Garland could last past the election. “You know, I think there will be plenty …

Politico reports: Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake has maintained for months that Republicans should take up Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court nomination if it looks like the presidential contest is a lost cause for the GOP. It’s looking about that time, Flake said in an interview on Thursday. “I said if we were in a position like we were in in …

In a lengthy interview with the New York Times, Ruth Bader Ginsburg jokingly suggested emigrating to New Zealand if Trump wins. The article begins: Unless they have a book to sell, Supreme Court justices rarely give interviews. Even then, they diligently avoid political topics. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg takes a different approach. These days, she is making no secret of …

Via Buzzfeed: President Obama is discussing his nominee for the Supreme Court with BuzzFeed News Legal Editor Chris Geidner in a live interview from the White House. Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to the nation’s highest court after Justice Antonin Scalia died in February. Garland currently is the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. …

Politico reports: RedState has a message for Senate Republicans: Confirm Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court now — before Hillary Clinton picks someone much worse next year. Leon Wolf, the managing editor of conservative blog RedState.com, wrote in a post Wednesday that with Ted Cruz dropping out of the race for the GOP nomination and Donald Trump positioned to take …

Politico reports: A deep-pocketed conservative advocacy group opposing Merrick Garland is spending a half-million dollars in five states for a new ad proclaiming that the Supreme Court nominee is “no moderate” — the latest phase of its pricey anti-Garland campaign. The ad from Judicial Crisis Network will start running on TV and online Friday in West Virginia, Colorado, North Dakota, …

The Hill reports: Ted Cruz is leading a conservative effort to end any chance of a lame-duck congressional session at the end of the year. Cruz, a freshman senator from Texas running for president, and right-leaning groups see huge dangers in having a session after the November elections, which they think could be used to move legislation backed by President …