Feb 04, 2021 · Garland was confirmed on March 10, 2021, by a vote of 70-30. Click on the following table to view the full roll call. [ show]Senate vote on Merrick Garland's nomination for attorney general (March 10, 2021) Senate confirmation hearing The Senate Judiciary Committee held Garland's confirmation hearing on February 22-23, 2021. Financial disclosures
In the 2010 midterm elections, the Republican Party gained a lead in elected attorney general offices, with 22 elected attorneys general to the Democrats' 21. The Democratic victory in the 2013 Virginia election for attorney general caused the party to briefly regain a 22-21 majority of elected attorney general offices. This lead was lost in ...
Feb 14, 2019 · The Senate confirmed William Barr to be the next attorney general of the United States in an 54-45 vote.
Sep 25, 2014 · Since Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid altered the chamber’s filibuster rules in late 2013, the Republicans can’t use the filibuster to block an Attorney General nominee during that time period....
Attorney General | Years of service |
---|---|
Merrick Garland | 2021-Present |
John Macpherson Berrien | 1829-1831 |
William Wirt | 1817-1829 |
Richard Rush | 1814-1817 |
All 50 states have an attorney general who serves as the state's chief legal officer. The attorney general is responsible for enforcing state law and advising the state government on legal matters. In many states, attorneys general play a large role in the law enforcement process.
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The table below lists important dates throughout the 2022 election cycle, including filing deadlines and primary dates.
Democrats Joe Manchin, Doug Jones and Kyrsten Sinema voted to confirm Barr and one Republican, Rand Paul, voted against Barr.
A previous version of this graphic incorrectly stated Senator Richard Burr (R- N.C.) voted to confirm William Barr. He did not vote.
Four nominees withdrew (out of seven in history). Since 1845, the Senate has taken no action on only five Supreme Court nominees, the latest being Merrick Garland in 2016. Obama, a liberal Democrat, selected Garland to fill a vacancy created by the February 2016 death of Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative.
3 nominees. In the past 100 years, the Senate has rejected three nominations on a recorded vote. Americans tend to think of their president as the most powerful person in the world, but the Constitution limits the power of all three branches of government—the president as well as the Congress and the federal courts.
In 2011, to ease the logjam of President Obama’s appointees awaiting confirmation, the Senate adopted a resolution allowing nominations for specific positions to bypass a committee and go to the full Senate for a vote. The committee still collects background, however. And if a single senator objects to the expedited process, the nomination goes to committee as usual.
Opposition from one or more senators may prevent a floor vote because the Senate cannot schedule the vote absent unanimous consent.
Because all this takes time, potential nominees for the highest positions usually get priority. In 2004, Congress amended the law governing presidential transitions to encourage a president-elect to put forward candidates for the national security team shortly after the election.
A candidate for a Cabinet or other top position fills out various forms, such as a financial disclosure report and a national security questionnaire. The Office of Government Ethics is available to guide a candidate through the paperwork.
A president’s most visible, and consequential, judicial nominations occur when a seat opens on the Supreme Court.
Attorney General is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule, thus earning a salary of US$ 221,400, as of January 2021.
For example, upon the inauguration of President Donald Trump on January 20, 2017, then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch left her position, so then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who had also tendered her resignation, was asked to stay on to serve as the acting attorney general until the confirmation of the new attorney general Jeff Sessions, who had been nominated for the office in November 2016 by then- President-elect Donald Trump.
The original duties of this officer were "to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which the United States shall be concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law when required by the president of the United States, or when requested by the heads of any of the departments". Some of these duties have since been transferred to the United States solicitor general and the White House counsel .
The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United Stateson all legal matters. The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States.
Gerson was fourth in the line of succession at the Justice Department, but other senior DOJ officials had already resigned.[14] Janet Reno, President Clinton's nominee for attorney general, was confirmed on March 12,[15]and he resigned the same day.
Presidential transition[edit] It is the practice for the attorney general, along with the other Cabinet secretaries and high-level political appointees of the President, to tender a resignation with effect on the Inauguration Day(January 20) of a new president.
Article II of the Constitution grants Congress the power to impeach “the president, the vice president and all civil officers of the United States.” The phrase “civil officers” includes the members of the cabinet (one of whom, Secretary of War William Belknap, was impeached in 1876).
Nixon Attorney General John Mitchell was a central figure in the Watergate scandal and was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice in 1975. He was out of office by then so there was no need for impeachment.
I have to repeat a prior answer from a source that Article II of the Constitution grants Congress the power to impeach “the president, the vice president and all civil officers of the United States.” And it has been done once. Federal Judges can also be impeached and it has happened.
Yes. Congress can impeach article 2 (who were confirmed by congress) and article 3 judges. Honestly they should be impeaching more than they do
So, to answer your question: Yes, the attorney general, and any other appointment official, can be impeached by congress.
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
The removed former official may be banned for life by the senate as well.
7 Governors of the Federal Reserve System (14-year terms of office — Chair and vice chair, who first must be confirmed as governors, also need to be confirmed for four-year terms in those offices.)
Military Officers (commissions and promotions) – Officers receive a commission assigning them to the officer corps from the President (with the consent of the Senate ). Promotions of all commissioned military officers are also commissioned by the President (with the consent of the Senate ).
These "PAS" (Presidential Appointment needing Senate confirmation) positions, ...
2 Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund (of 6 total; political balance required; four-year terms of office)
5 Commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (political balance required; seven-year terms of office) 5 Members of the National Transportation Safety Board (political balance required; five-year terms of office - Chair, who first must be confirmed as a member, also needs to be confirmed.)
There are a number of positions that required Senate confirmation of appointees in the past, but do not today. The Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011 ( Pub.L. 112–166 (text) (pdf) ), signed into law on August 10, 2012, eliminates the requirement of Senate approval for 163 positions, allowing the president alone to appoint persons to these positions: Parts of the act went into effect immediately, while other parts took effect on October 9, 2012, 60 days after enactment.
Merrick Garland, President Biden's nominee for U.S. attorney general, speaks in Wilmington, Del., on Jan. 7. Most people know Judge Merrick Garland for what didn't happen to him. Five years ago, the Senate never acted on his nomination to the Supreme Court. This week, that will change, as a new chapter begins in Garland's lifelong commitment ...
In 2016, Judge Merrick Garland was President Barack Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court. Five years later, he is President Biden's pick to lead the Justice Department.
The Justice Department is still reeling from political scandals from the Trump years — and racing to neutralize the threat from homegrown, violent extremists who participated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Over a legal career that spans 44 years, Garland has confronted those kinds of problems before.