Merrick Garland

Merrick Garland
Born	Merrick Brian Garland 13 11, 1952
Birthplace	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Lawyer, jurist, former government official
Known for	86th United States Attorney General; nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court (2016); supervision of Oklahoma City bombing prosecution
Education	Harvard University (BA, JD)
Children	2
Awards	Henry J. Friendly Medal (2022)

Merrick Brian Garland (born November 13, 1952) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as the 86th United States Attorney General from March 2021 to January 2025 under President Joe Biden. Before his appointment as the nation's chief law enforcement officer, Garland served for nearly a quarter century as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, including seven years as its chief judge. A graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School, Garland built a distinguished legal career that spanned private practice, federal prosecution, and the judiciary. He gained national prominence in the mid-1990s for his role in supervising the investigation and prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombing perpetrators. In 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Garland to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court of the United States created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, but the Republican-controlled Senate refused to hold hearings or a vote on the nomination — a decision that became one of the most consequential and contentious episodes in modern American judicial politics. His tenure as attorney general was marked by significant legal proceedings, including the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith to investigate former President Donald Trump, and drew both praise and criticism regarding the pace and approach of those prosecutions. After leaving government service in January 2025, Garland returned to private legal practice.

Early Life

Merrick Brian Garland was born on November 13, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in the Chicago metropolitan area, in the suburb of Lincolnwood, Illinois. His mother, Shirley (née Horwitz), was a director of volunteer services at Chicago's Council for Jewish Elderly, and his father, Cyril Garland, headed a small business. Garland's family was Jewish, and his grandparents had immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe.

Garland attended Niles West High School in Skokie, Illinois, where he excelled academically. He was the class valedictorian and also served as president of the student council. During his high school years, Garland worked as a stock boy at a local shoe store and also worked at his father's business. His academic performance in high school earned him admission to Harvard University, setting the stage for a career that would take him through the highest levels of American legal practice and government.

The Chicago-area roots Garland established during his formative years remained a reference point throughout his career. Terry Branstad, who later served as governor of Iowa and U.S. Ambassador to China, had a connection to Garland through their shared Midwestern background.

Education

Garland attended Harvard University as an undergraduate, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude. He then enrolled at Harvard Law School, where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review, one of the most prestigious positions available to a law student. He received his Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. His strong academic credentials at both the undergraduate and graduate level positioned him for the series of elite legal clerkships and professional opportunities that followed. Garland's deep ties to Harvard were noted repeatedly throughout his career, including during his Supreme Court nomination in 2016.

Career

Clerkships and Early Legal Career

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Garland embarked on a series of clerkships that are among the most coveted in the American legal profession. He first served as a law clerk to Judge Henry Friendly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, one of the most respected appellate judges in American history. He subsequently clerked for Justice William J. Brennan Jr. of the Supreme Court of the United States, further cementing his reputation within elite legal circles.

Following his clerkships, Garland entered private practice at Arnold & Porter, a prominent Washington, D.C. law firm, where he practiced corporate litigation. His time at Arnold & Porter provided him with experience in complex civil litigation before he transitioned to public service.

Department of Justice

Garland joined the United States Department of Justice, where he served in several capacities as a federal prosecutor. He rose to the position of Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, a senior role within the department's leadership structure.

Garland's most prominent work at the Department of Justice came in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, which killed 168 people and remains one of the deadliest acts of domestic terrorism in American history. Garland was dispatched to Oklahoma City to supervise the investigation and coordinate the prosecution of those responsible, including Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. His role in the Oklahoma City bombing case became a defining element of his professional biography and was frequently cited in subsequent discussions of his qualifications for higher office. The case demonstrated his capacity to manage large-scale, high-stakes federal prosecutions and to work under extraordinary pressure and public scrutiny.

Court of Appeals

President Bill Clinton nominated Garland to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1997. The D.C. Circuit is often considered the second most important court in the federal system after the Supreme Court, given its jurisdiction over cases involving federal agencies and regulations. Garland succeeded Judge Abner Mikva on the bench and took his seat on March 20, 1997.

Garland's confirmation to the D.C. Circuit was not without difficulty. The Senate debate over his nomination reflected the growing politicization of judicial appointments during the 1990s. Nevertheless, he was ultimately confirmed and began what would become a 24-year tenure on the court.

On the D.C. Circuit, Garland developed a reputation as a careful, methodical jurist whose opinions reflected close attention to statutory text and precedent rather than sweeping ideological statements. Legal analysts described his judicial philosophy as centrist and pragmatic, characterized by a case-by-case approach rather than adherence to a rigid ideological framework. His opinions were noted for their thoroughness and for engaging respectfully with opposing viewpoints, both in majority opinions and in dissent.

During his time on the bench, Garland frequently sided with the government in criminal cases and was considered a moderate on issues of administrative law and regulatory power. He participated in numerous consequential cases involving federal regulatory authority, separation of powers, and national security.

Garland served as Chief Judge of the D.C. Circuit from February 12, 2013, to February 11, 2020, succeeding Judge David B. Sentelle and being succeeded by Judge Sri Srinivasan. In this administrative role, he oversaw one of the busiest and most consequential appellate courts in the country.

Supreme Court Nomination (2016)

On March 16, 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Garland to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia on February 13, 2016. At 63 years of age, Garland was older than typical Supreme Court nominees, a factor that some analysts suggested was intended to make the nomination more palatable to Senate Republicans, as he would presumably serve a shorter tenure on the Court than a younger appointee.

Obama's selection of Garland was seen as a deliberate choice of a nominee with centrist credentials and broad respect across the political spectrum. Senator Orrin Hatch, a senior Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had previously stated that there was "no question" Garland could be confirmed to the Supreme Court, though Hatch later aligned with the Senate Republican leadership's decision to block the nomination.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Republican-controlled Senate would not hold hearings or a vote on any Supreme Court nominee during the final year of Obama's presidency, arguing that the vacancy should be filled by whoever won the 2016 presidential election. This position, which McConnell and other Republicans maintained throughout 2016, was unprecedented in modern American history — no Senate majority had previously refused to consider a Supreme Court nomination for such an extended period.

Garland's nomination lasted 293 days without a hearing or vote, the longest pending Supreme Court nomination in history. The nomination expired on January 3, 2017, with the end of the 114th Congress. Following the election of Donald Trump in November 2016, the new president nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to the vacant seat, and the Republican Senate majority confirmed Gorsuch in April 2017.

The Senate's refusal to act on Garland's nomination became a significant political and constitutional flashpoint, with lasting implications for the judicial confirmation process. It was cited by Democrats as a motivating factor in subsequent confirmation disputes, including the contentious confirmations of Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

Attorney General (2021–2025)

President Joe Biden nominated Garland to serve as United States Attorney General in January 2021. The Senate confirmed him on March 10, 2021, by a vote of 70–30, a bipartisan margin that reflected his long judicial record and personal reputation. He took office on March 11, 2021, succeeding William Barr. His deputy attorney general was Lisa Monaco, with John P. Carlin initially serving in an acting capacity.

Garland's tenure as attorney general was defined in significant part by the Department of Justice's response to the January 6 United States Capitol attack and by investigations into former President Donald Trump. The department undertook the largest prosecution in its history in connection with the Capitol attack, charging hundreds of participants.

In November 2022, Garland appointed Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee investigations related to Trump's handling of classified documents after leaving office and to Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Smith's office obtained federal indictments against Trump in both matters.

However, Garland faced sustained criticism from multiple quarters regarding the pace and timing of these prosecutions. Some observers and commentators argued that the Department of Justice had moved too slowly in initiating investigations into Trump, which contributed to the likelihood that none of the federal criminal cases against Trump would reach trial before the November 2024 presidential election. President Biden himself was reported to have assigned Garland some responsibility for the fact that the federal indictments were unlikely to proceed to trial before the election, in which Trump prevailed.

One assessment published in Modern Diplomacy characterized Garland's leadership of the Department of Justice during this period as a failure to meet the demands of the moment. Others argued that Garland's deliberate approach reflected his commitment to the institutional norms of the Department of Justice and his concern about the appearance of political motivation in prosecuting a former president.

After Trump won the 2024 presidential election, the special counsel's cases were wound down, as longstanding Department of Justice policy held that a sitting president could not be indicted. Garland left office on January 20, 2025, and was succeeded by Pam Bondi.

Post-Government Career

Following his departure from the Department of Justice, Garland returned to Arnold & Porter, the law firm where he had begun his career in private practice decades earlier. In May 2025, the firm announced that Garland had rejoined as a partner in its appellate and Supreme Court practice group.

In the period following his departure from government, Garland continued to be a subject of political debate. In 2025, President Trump called for the prosecution of several Biden-era Justice Department officials, including Garland and Jack Smith, in connection with investigations that had been conducted during the Biden administration. In early 2026, congressional Democrats called for Garland to testify before Congress on matters related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

Personal Life

Garland is married to Lynn Rosenman, a granddaughter of Samuel Rosenman, who served as a special counsel to Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. The couple has two daughters.

Garland has described himself as someone who leads a disciplined and methodical personal life, consistent with the meticulous approach he brought to his judicial and prosecutorial work. A profile in The Washington Post characterized him as a person of "ambition without sharp elbows," noting that colleagues and friends described him as unfailingly courteous and committed to fairness in both professional and personal contexts.

Garland is Jewish, and his family's immigrant heritage has been a part of his personal narrative. During his Supreme Court nomination announcement in 2016, he spoke emotionally about his grandparents' experience fleeing anti-Semitic persecution in Eastern Europe and finding refuge in the United States.

Recognition

Garland received the Henry J. Friendly Medal in 2022, an award named after Judge Henry Friendly, for whom Garland had clerked early in his career. The award recognized his contributions to the administration of justice.

Throughout his career, Garland was the subject of extensive legal analysis and media coverage, particularly during his 2016 Supreme Court nomination and his tenure as attorney general. Legal publications and commentators assessed his judicial record on the D.C. Circuit as reflecting a pragmatic, centrist approach, and his opinions were frequently cited in academic and professional legal discourse.

His Supreme Court nomination, while ultimately unsuccessful, drew attention to the confirmation process itself and became a landmark event in discussions about the politicization of judicial appointments. The 293-day duration of his unacted-upon nomination set a record and prompted significant debate about Senate norms and constitutional obligations regarding Supreme Court vacancies.

As attorney general, Garland's decisions regarding the investigation and prosecution of former President Trump became central to political discourse in the United States and generated significant media coverage and public commentary. Books and articles examining his tenure continued to appear after his departure from office, with authors debating the wisdom of his approach to accountability and institutional independence.

Legacy

Merrick Garland's career intersected with several of the most consequential moments in modern American legal and political history. His supervision of the Oklahoma City bombing prosecution in the 1990s established his reputation as a capable manager of complex, high-profile federal cases. His nearly quarter-century on the D.C. Circuit left a substantial body of appellate jurisprudence, particularly in the areas of administrative law and criminal law.

The blocked Supreme Court nomination of 2016 became a defining episode not only in Garland's career but in the broader history of the American judiciary. The Senate's refusal to consider his nomination altered the trajectory of the Supreme Court's composition for a generation and served as a precedent — or, in the view of many constitutional scholars, a breach of norms — that reshaped the confirmation process for all subsequent nominees.

As attorney general, Garland's approach to the investigation of former President Trump became the subject of intense and ongoing debate. Supporters argued that his emphasis on institutional independence, careful adherence to legal process, and avoidance of the appearance of political motivation reflected the proper role of the attorney general. Critics contended that his deliberative pace allowed the political calendar to overtake the legal process, with the consequence that federal criminal proceedings against Trump did not reach trial before Trump won re-election in 2024.

The tension between institutional norms and political accountability that characterized Garland's time as attorney general is likely to remain a subject of study and debate among legal scholars, political scientists, and historians for years to come. His career, spanning four decades and encompassing roles in private practice, federal prosecution, the federal judiciary, and the nation's top law enforcement position, places him among the most experienced legal figures to have served as attorney general.