Senate panel sets hearing for attorney general nominee Garland

Updated: Feb 10, 2021 / 12:24 AM CST

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 16: U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Vice President Joe Biden (L) stands with Judge Merrick B. Garland (R), while nominating him to the US Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, March 16, 2016 in Washington, DC. Merrick currently serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and if confirmed by the US Senate, would replace Antonin Scalia who died suddenly last month. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Feb. 22-23 on confirmation of President Joe Biden’s attorney general nominee, Merrick Garland, and will vote on advancing his nomination on March 1, the panel said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Judge Garland will serve the Justice Department and our country with honor and integrity. He is a consensus pick who should be confirmed swiftly on his merits,” it quoted the committee’s chairman, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, as saying.

Garland, 68, is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, one of 13 federal appeals courts.

Since Biden was sworn into office on Jan. 20, the Senate has confirmed many members of his Cabinet, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Democratic former President Barack Obama nominated Garland to the Supreme Court in 2016 while Biden was vice president. The Senate, then controlled by Republicans, refused to hold hearings on the nomination, allowing Republican former President Donald Trump to fill the seat after he assumed office in January 2017.

Reporting by Makini Brice and Sarah N. Lynch; Writing by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Sam Holmes.

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