WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Joe Biden will on Thursday lay out his picks to lead the U.S. Department of Justice, including federal appeals court Judge Merrick Garland to serve as the top law enforcement officer, and vowed to restore faith in the rule of nation’s law.
Biden will deliver remarks at 1:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) on his nominees, who include Lisa Monaco for deputy attorney general, Vanita Gupta for associate attorney general and Kristen Clarke for assistant attorney general for the department’s Civil Rights Division, his transition office said.
The incoming Democratic president’s remarks come a day after Washington suffered the gravest assault on the U.S. Capitol in more than 200 years after President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed Congress in a bid to block lawmakers’ certification of Biden’s presidential victory.
In a statement, Biden’s transition team said the nominees reflected his “deeply held commitment to reaffirming the Department of Justice as a pillar of independence and integrity, and ensuring that the Attorney General and his senior leadership team are the American people’s lawyers — not the president’s law firm.
“These leaders, all of whom are Justice Department veterans, will renew Americans’ faith in the rule of law and work tirelessly to build a more equitable justice system.”
Garland, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, must win Senate approval to serve as U.S. attorney general. The chamber had refused to grant him a hearing when for Democratic U.S. President Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court in 2016.
(Reporting by Eric Beech and Susan Heavey; Editing by John Stonestreet and Alison Willliams)
