Federal appeals court Judge Merrick Garland will be nominated to serve as attorney general in the administration of President-elect Joe Biden (article available here).
Garland, 68, is the widely respected former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He has deep roots inside the Justice Department, where he launched his career decades ago. Garland oversaw the prosecution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and gained significant management experience inside the sprawling department in the 1990s. He also was a career prosecutor inside the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C. He has been on the federal appeals court in Washington since 1997. On the bench, the judge developed a moderate to conservative record on criminal justice, according to an analysis by SCOTUSblog.
Former prosecutor and national security official Lisa Monaco is expected to be tapped to serve as deputy attorney general, and former civil rights leader Vanita Gupta will be nominated as associate attorney general.
Kristen Clarke, who has led the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, is Biden's choice to run the Civil Rights Division.