The Constitutional Accountability Center supports the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to be the next Attorney General of the United States. He has shown his commitment to the principles of liberty, equality, and fairness; the character to rise above partisan politics and be independent of the president; and his fidelity to the text, history, and values of the whole Constitution. We urge the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance his nomination to the full Senate.

Garland’s testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, followed by glowing support from key witnesses, explains why he can lead the Department of Justice out of the ethical morass of the Trump years and back to the Department’s founding principles—to serve, as he said, as “the lawyer for the people of the United States” rather than for the president who nominated him.

In his testimony, Garland reminded the Senate that the Department of Justice “was founded during Reconstruction in the aftermath of the Civil War to secure the civil rights that were promised in the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments.” For the first time in at least 40 years—and possibly in living memory—a nominee to be U.S. Attorney General has cited in his opening statement to the Judiciary Committee the three constitutional Amendments that brought about a second founding of our nation. In connecting them to the mission of the Department he would lead, Garland showed he understands that these critical amendments paved the way for many of our most fundamental rights, transforming our nation’s charter from one that countenanced slavery and its badges and incidents, to one that promises equality and protection from state abuses of fundamental rights, including the right to vote.