Joe Biden considering Jewish judge Garland as attorney-general
Garland has credited his parents with instilling in him the desire for public service.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUS President Barack Obama (not pictured) announces Judge Merrick Garland (R) of the United States Court of Appeals as his nominee for the US Supreme Court in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington March 16, 2016.(photo credit: REUTERS)
President-elect Joe Biden is considering federal appeals court Judge Merrick Garland to be his attorney-general, NPR reported. Garland, 68, he was previously chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.Garland was appointed by former US president Barack Obama to fill the Supreme Court seat held by Antonin Scalia until his death in 2016. The confirmation was blocked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said that the vacancy should be filled after the election by the next president, according to a report in The Washington Times.With the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, McConnell supported nominating a new judge before the election, leading to Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation shortly before the 2020 elections.Garland is Jewish. He was raised in Lincolnwood, a heavily Jewish suburb of Chicago, and had his bar mitzvah at a Conservative synagogue. He has credited his parents with instilling in him the desire for public service.