Merrick Garland confirmed as attorney general
Source: Washington Post
Merrick Garland, a longtime federal appeals court judge whose nomination to the Supreme Court Republicans famously refused to consider, was confirmed as President Biden's attorney general Wednesday.Senators voted 70-30 to approve Garland's nomination. He will take over a Justice Department which saw its reputation battered as President Donald Trump sought to use its power to benefit his friends and hurt his enemies, and which is overseeing several high-profile cases that could be politically perilous.
As a judge, Garland earned a reputation as a moderate consensus builder, and Biden selected him because he was viewed as someone who could restore the Justice Department's credibility and independence from the White House on criminal matters. He enjoyed bi-partisan support. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said before the vote that Garland had a "long reputation as a straight-shooter and legal expert" and that his left-leaning views were "within the legal mainstream."
Garland has vowed to make decisions on criminal matters without regard to politics, and that the agency on his watch will be dedicated to fighting discrimination and domestic terrorism. He has said his first briefing will focus on the investigation into Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol -- a sprawling, nationwide case that already has produced charges against roughly 300 people.
Garland will be taking office later than his recent predecessors. Trump's first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was confirmed on Feb. 8, 2017, and President Barack Obama's first attorney general, Eric Holder, was confirmed on Feb. 2, 2009. But their nominations were announced earlier during the presidential transition than Garland's was.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/merrick-garland-confirmation-vote/2021/03/10/2ff813a0-80fc-11eb-81db-b02f0398f49a_story.html
(everybody voted)
= new reply since forum marked as read
Garland as our new Attorney General .. what a journey he's had!
Aloha, onetexan
when he was first nominated back in 1997 for the D.C. Circuit Court. That final vote was 76 - 23 (but Turtle voted "no" back then)! 
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=105&session=1&vote=00034
but I am so disgusted with him that I ignored him. 
Link to tweet
TEXT
@cspanJeremy
Senator Mitch McConnell votes to confirm Merrick Garland as Attorney General.
2:45 PM · Mar 10, 2021
(was still trying to find a clip of whatever he said at the end of the vote)
Have been hunting. There is so much going on today that they (and me) are trying to juggle it all.
Right now, the Congressional Democratic Leadership (including Pelosi and Schumer) are outside and are having an "enrollment ceremony" to officially sign the Covid bill to send it over to the President! 
Everyone, including the states and cities, who got nothing the last 2 times, are waiting with bated breath!!! 
that I heard right away (I have multiple streams going on multiple devices - House and Senate sessions). But the one that shocked me the most was the Graham vote. 
that he is no longer Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and has to bow down to Dick Durbin, the new Chair! 
So many times it takes them forever to get the roll calls up online so I was glad this was fairly quick! 
He was Chief Judge for the D.C. Circuit Court for 7 years (Feb. 2013 - Feb. 2020) so he has seen a lot of bullshit come through there that came up from the lower (D.C. District) Court, I expect including some of the Russia probe cases.
DOJ with no Barr or Sessions has actually discovered "domestic terrorists" without doing pretzel twists about the definition of "terrorist" (essentially being anyone non-white because they obviously have a "political agenda" whereas white supremacists and QAnon kooks don't), then we might just be on step closer to that. You never know...