Merrick Garland

Merrick Garland, born on November thirteenth, nineteen fifty-two, is a distinguished American lawyer and jurist who made history as the eighty-sixth United States attorney general from two thousand twenty-one to two thousand twenty-five. His legal career is marked by significant roles, including serving as a circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from nineteen ninety-seven until two thousand twenty-one, where he also held the position of chief judge from two thousand thirteen to two thousand twenty.

A native of the Chicago area, Garland's academic journey took him to Harvard University and Harvard Law School, where he was the editor of the Harvard Law Review. His early career included clerking for Judge Henry Friendly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Following his clerkships, he practiced corporate litigation at Arnold & Porter and later served as a federal prosecutor in the United States Department of Justice, notably supervising the investigation and prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombers.

In March two thousand sixteen, President Barack Obama nominated Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalia's passing. However, the Republican-controlled Senate controversially refused to hold a hearing or vote on his nomination, which lasted two hundred ninety-three days—the longest in history—before expiring in January two thousand seventeen. Subsequently, President Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to the vacant seat.

In January two thousand twenty-one, President Joe Biden nominated Garland as U.S. attorney general, and he was confirmed by the Senate with a vote of seventy to thirty. His tenure has not been without criticism, particularly regarding the pace of prosecutions related to former President Donald Trump, with some observers, including President Biden, expressing concerns that indictments obtained by special counsel Jack Smith may not reach trial before the November two thousand twenty-four election.