President-elect Joe Biden nominates Merrick Garland as US Attorney General

President-Elect Joe Biden, on Thursday, officially nominated Merrick Garland as the US Attorney General. He has given the long-serving jurist the responsibility and opportunity to restore “the honor, the integrity, the independence” of the US justice department.

This announcement came a day after the violent mob incident at the Capitol. Biden said Garland finally had a chance to become the US Attorney General after he his 2016 supreme court nomination was denied by Senate Republicans. He has also assured that unlike President Donald Trump who sought to use the Justice Department to back his personal and political agenda, he [Biden] was going to see that America is put first.

“You won’t work for me. You are not the president or the vice president's lawyer,” Biden said in a statement. “Your loyalty is not to me. It’s to the law, to the constitution to the people of this nation.”

Biden described Garland as “one of the most respected jurists of our time.” The President-elect said he had no doubt that Garland would be an impartial administrator of justice and together with the other nominees will restore American’s faith in the rule of law and justice system. He also hopes that the team will work tirelessly to rebuild a more equitable justice system in the nation.

In his remark, Garland said he was committed to seeing an improved justice system and restoring the integrity of the Department of Justice after four years of corruption and politicization under the previous administration.

“As everyone who watched yesterday’s events in Washington now understand, if they did not understand before, the rule of law is not just some lawyer’s turn of phrase,” Garland said. “It is the very foundation of our democracy. The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike.”

In February 2016, Garland was nominated by former President Barack Obama to fill in the seat at the Supreme Court after the death of Antonin Scalia. However, Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell rejected the nomination, putting into consideration the proximity of the November presidential elections. He argued that voters should decide who takes the seat. Nearly five years later, the Senate will have to meet to give his nomination another reconsideration. Like his Democratic predecessor, Biden is hoping that the Senate will give Garland a reasonable consideration on account of his reputation. Biden predicts that Garland would be chosen with bipartisan support.

If chosen as attorney general of the United States, Garland will be faced with the decision to investigate President Trump and the former and current members of his administration as some Democrats are already demanding. Although, President-elect Biden has made it clear that he has no intentions to prosecute a former president.

Regardless of Biden’s reluctance to prosecuting Trump after he leaves office, the US attorney in Washington, Michael Sherwin has called for the justice department not to rule out charges against Trump for his alleged role in inciting the Wednesday rioters. He was reported to have told his supporters the country would never be taken back with weakness and encouraged them to march on to the Capitol.