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Added on the 06/01/2021 14:39:14 - Copyright : Wochit
(CNN)President-elect Joe Biden has decided to nominate Judge Merrick Garland as attorney general, people familiar with the matter tell CNN, a long-awaited decision that was moved toward completion Wednesday as it became apparent that Democrats were on the brink of winning control of the Senate. While Garland has been a top contender for weeks, concerns about the vacancy his selection would create on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia raised alarm bells among Biden and many advisers who believed Senate Republicans would block any nomination to that seat.
NPR reports that Judge Merrick Garland is under serious consideration by Joe Biden to serve as Attorney General. In 2016, Garland was nominated to the Supreme Court by then-President Barack Obama. He never received a hearing and the nomination by blocked by Senate Republicans. Business Insider reports that Garland has served as a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 1997. Garland was the US Court of Appeals chief judge from February 2013 to February 2020.
President-elect Joe Biden's so, Hunter Biden, is being investigated by the federal government. Biden has not selected his pick for Attorney General. However, Business Insider reports that he will not ask candidates for the position about their plans surrounding any investigations into his son. AG Bill Barr leaves the White House this week. He will be replaced for the remainder of Trump's term by Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen. AP reports Trump has floated the idea of firing Rosen should he refuse to appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden.
On Monday, the U.S. Senate began confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett to join the U.S. Supreme Court. Former Vice President Joe Biden said Barrett's confirmation hearings are "unconstitutional." However, according to CNN, Biden is wrong. "Legal experts say there is nothing strictly unconstitutional about Barrett's confirmation process." Josh Blackman, a South Texas College of Law professor who specializes in constitutional law, told CNN, "I have no idea what VP Biden meant." "The Constitution gives the Senate the power to hold a hearing." "There is nothing unconstitutional about confirming Judge Barrett."
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden says the stalemate over President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland is a "constitutional crisis" that has to stop. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).