Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) refused to schedule a hearing concerning President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland as Attorney General. So now Democrats should rush his confirmation through rather than let Graham succeed in delaying the process.

Garland is exceedingly qualified to be Attorney General. He has served in the Justice Department before, and there isn’t a better person for the moment since Garland investigated the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and prosecuted Timothy McVeigh. So, holding right-wing terrorists accountable is something he’s good at, making him the right man to handle the Capitol insurrection case and the multiple investigations of disgraced former President Donald Trump.

As you may recall, Senate Republicans previously refused to hold a confirmation hearing for Garland back in 2016 after former President Barack Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court. With Graham temporarily in charge of the Senate Judiciary Committee despite the Democratic majority, Republicans once again refused to hold a hearing for his nomination as Attorney General.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is now chairman of the committee, but Graham’s refusal to do his job threatens to leave the DOJ without Garland’s leadership for weeks.

According to the Daily Beast:

With the impeachment trial of former President Trump slated to take up at least all of next week, and the chamber scheduled to be in recess the following week, it’s possible that another month could pass before Garland takes over as attorney general, said Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), a member of the Judiciary panel and a close ally of Biden.

That possibly lengthy setback in installing leadership at the department is especially troubling to Democratic lawmakers and outside advocates—not only because they’re itching to get started on a new DOJ agenda, but because of the acute importance of its business at the moment.

This is unacceptable. Senate Democrats cannot allow Graham to dictate the agenda. Instead of going on a recess, Democrats should keep the Senate in session until all of Biden’s nominees are confirmed, including Garland. Furthermore, it’s entirely possible for the Senate to do multiple things at the same time. They can deal with Trump’s impeachment trial and confirm Cabinet picks. It’s not that complicated.

Americans deserve an Attorney General. Americans deserve justice. Republicans and their supporters must be held accountable for their terrorist actions on January 6th and for all the crimes they committed over the last four years. It only took eight days for Senate Republicans to ram through Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court last year. Democrats should aim to confirm Garland even quicker. Because justice delayed is justice denied, and Republican obstruction of justice cannot be tolerated.

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