The question in the title of this post is prompted, of course, by this news as reported here by CNN : "President Donald Trump has decided to nominate former Attorney General William Barr to be the next permanent head of the Justice Department, the President told reporters Friday." Here is more:
"He will be nominated for the United States attorney general and hopefully that process will go very quickly," Trump added.
Barr previously worked at the CIA in the 1970s and served in several leadership roles at the Justice Department serving under President George H.W. Bush. He ultimately served as attorney general from 1991 through 1993. He subsequently served in several executive and leadership positions at corporations, including Verizon Communications. Barr also served as a board member on CNN's parent company, Time Warner, Inc., (now Warner Media) from 2009 until 2018....
Officials at the DOJ are thrilled with Trump's selection of Barr, multiple current and former officials told CNN. He's universally seen as solid, reliable conservative, but also someone who can get confirmed. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was "elated" by Trump's selection of Barr, according to a source close to him.
One Justice Department lawyer who had been nervous about who the President might pick praised the choice of Barr, saying it is good for morale. "As compared to other potential picks, this is a great choice," said the official. The source called Barr a "very mature choice," and said when Barr emerged as the front runner people at Justice were hoping he'd be the pick "because he's tough he's principled and he's independent."...
As for how quickly Barr could be confirmed, one congressional source notes it's usually at least two months from nomination to confirmation and said if the appropriate paperwork gets to the Hill in time, a hearing could be held in January.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a leading contender to become the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, praised the President's selection of Barr, saying he "will provide new and much-needed leadership for the Department of Justice."...
Democratic congressional leaders criticized the President's choice. Nancy Pelosi, who is running to be the next speaker of the House, called Barr's proposed nomination "deeply concerning," adding that he "has spent the past two years auditioning for this job by stoking partisan attacks on our nation's law enforcement community, and encouraging the President to use the Justice Department as a political weapon to pursue his rivals and undermine investigations into Trump and his family's scandals."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Barr "will have a steep hill to climb in order to be confirmed by the Senate." Schumer demanded that Barr commit to allowing the Mueller investigation "proceed unimpeded" and that the special counsel's final report be available to Congress and the public after the investigation is completed.
As highlighted in this prior post , Barr's past history on issues of incarceration are not encouraging for advocates of federal criminal justice reform. But lots of folks who adopted "tough-and-tougher" approaches to crime and punishment a few decades ago have become significant modern voices for all sorts of reforms. So, I am hopeful that the coming weeks will bring thoughtful inquiries and questions concerning how would-be AG Barr would approach federal criminal justice reforms or state marijuana reforms circa 2019.
No comments:
Post a Comment