By: Teddy Grant

The Senate confirmed Federal Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland to be the next attorney general of the United States.

Garland received partisan support in a 70-30 vote and was selected by President Joe Biden to restore the U.S. Department of Justice’s reputation, per the AP.

In 2016, Garland was infamously denied by Republicans for a seat on the Supreme Court to block then-President Barack Obama appointing a liberal justice following the death of Justice Anton Scalia.

According to the AP, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who refused to put up Garland’s confirmation in 2016, voted for Garland, saying that he has a “long reputation as a straight shooter and a legal expert.”

“Let’s hope our incoming attorney general applies that no-nonsense approach to the serious challenges facing the Department of Justice and our nation,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised Garland as the incoming attorney general, blasting former President Donald Trump’s undermining of the Department of Justice.

“After Donald Trump spent four years — four long years — subverting the powers of the Justice Department for his own political benefit, treating the attorney general like his own personal defense lawyer, America can breathe a sigh of relief that we’re going to have someone like Merrick Garland leading the Justice Department,” said Schumer, according to the AP.