A relative of the former American ambassador to China, Terry Brunsted, will be appointed as the new US attorney general: the Senate voted to approve Merrick Garland as the country’s new attorney general, CNN reports.
70 senators voted for his candidacy, including Democrats and Republicans, 30 voted against.
“America can breathe a sigh of relief because we finally have someone like Merrick Garland heading the Justice Department,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat. He described Garland as a man with “decency, independence, respect for the rule of law, and authority on both sides.”
Merrick Garland served as a judge of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia from 1997 to 2021. He is a second cousin of former Iowa Governor and former US Ambassador to China Terry Brunsted.
On December 15, 2020, former US President Donald Trump announced the resignation of the country’s Attorney General William Barr. The reason for the decision was both Trump’s refusal to admit defeat in the presidential election, and Barr’s words that the US Department of Justice did not find massive fraud on them. Before that, it became known that Barr knew about the investigation against Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, but kept silent about it so as not to influence the outcome of the election.
Barr has served as US Attorney General since February 2019. In this position, he also served under President George W. Bush from 1991-1993.