As Democrats Take Over Senate, Biden Picks Garland As Attorney General

<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>As Democrats pushes forward of winning control of the Senate&comma; President Elect&comma; Joe Biden looks up to Merrick Garland as United States next Attorney General<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that baring any last minute change&comma; Merrick Garland has been penciled down as the Attorney General of the United States of America&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;This is coming on the heels of the democratic taking control of the Senate&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;According to information available to OpenLife Nigeria online medium&comma; President-elect Joe Biden has decided to nominate Judge Merrick Garland as attorney general&comma; as it became apparent that <strong>Democrats<&sol;strong> were on the brink of winning control of the Senate&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The announcement of the attorney general&comma; along with other senior leaders of the Justice Department&comma; is expected to be made as soon as Thursday as Biden moves closer to filling the remaining seats in his Cabinet before assuming power on January 20&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;Judge Garland will be viewed in a whole new light now&comma;&&num;8221&semi; a top Biden ally said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;President Barack Obama nominated Garland to the Supreme Court after a vacancy was created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016&period; But Republicans&comma; led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell&comma; refused for months to hold confirmation hearings or the required vote in the chamber&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;When Trump took office&comma; Garland&&num;8217&semi;s nomination expired and he returned to his position as chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit&period; The court is charged with reviewing challenges to administrative agencies&period; He stepped down from the position as chief judge in February 2020&comma; but still serves on the court&period; President Bill Clinton appointed him to the court in 1997&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Garland was chosen by Biden for attorney general over former Alabama Sen&period; Doug Jones and former acting attorney general Sally Yates&comma; the two other finalists for the position&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Defenders of Garland argued he would be a particularly strong choice to lead the Justice Department in the post-Trump era because he is seen as above reproach of partisan politics&period; Some allies describe him as a &&num;8220&semi;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Boy Scout&comma;<&sol;a>&&num;8221&semi; which is intended to suggest he would be seen as a non-political figure&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;His reputation could aide him as he navigates some politically tricky decisions&comma; particularly with an ongoing federal investigation into the business dealings of Hunter Biden&comma; the President-elect&&num;8217&semi;s son&period; Garland could be faced with pressure on whether to name a special prosecutor in the case&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Prior to his appointment as a US circuit judge&comma; Garland served as principal associate deputy attorney general&period; He supervised the investigation of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing&comma; which killed more than 160 people and injured several hundred more&period; Garland also led the investigations of the 1996 Olympics bombing in Atlanta&comma; in which two people died and more than 100 others were injured&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Garland led the investigation into Ted Kaczynski&comma; also known as &&num;8220&semi;The Unabomber&comma;&&num;8221&semi; who is currently serving eight life sentences for murder&period; He killed three people and injured more than 20 others with a string of mail bombings&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The judge served as an assistant US attorney for the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">District of Columbia<&sol;a> from 1989 to 1992&comma; and as deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division of the Justice Department from 1993 to 1994&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Garland&&num;8217&semi;s nomination will disappoint those who had pressured Biden to nominate a person of color as attorney general&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris met last month with civil rights leaders and members of the NAACP&comma; who have been pressuring Biden to diversify his Cabinet and create a position within the White House for a civil rights czar&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Merrick Brian Garland was born on November 13&comma; 1952&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;