March 10, 2021

Senate Confirms Merrick Garland as US Attorney General

Caroline Brehman/Congressional Quarterly/Zuma

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The Senate overwhelmingly voted to confirm longtime federal judge Merrick Garland as US attorney general on Wednesday.

Garland was appointed to the Supreme Court by former President Barack Obama five years ago, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to bring his confirmation to a vote in the Senate, claiming that it was too close to the end of Obama’s term. (That logic did not extend to the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney-Barrett after Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death in the final months of Trump’s term.)

Today, McConnell was one of 70 senators to vote to approve Garland to lead the Justice Department. Among Garland’s first tasks could be investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol—and former President Donald Trump’s role in inciting it. As my colleague Kara Voght reported last month, he’s also setting his sights on police reform and combating domestic terrorism.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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