Noah Feldman, Columnist

The Justice Department Really Needs Merrick Garland

The new AG will have to restore the Department of Justice’s reputation for nonpartisan law enforcement.

January 6, 2021 at 7:20 PM UTC

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People."

He’ll have a lot of work to do.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Judge Merrick Garland is the right person at the right time to bePresident Joe Biden’s attorney general.

If the AP and Politico are correct that he’s Biden’s pick, it isn’t just well-deserved vindication for a dedicated public servant who deserved to be confirmed to the Supreme Court when nominated by President Barack Obama. Garland’s years of experience in the Department of Justice, coupled with his distinguished service on the federal bench, position him to accomplish the historic mission now demanded of him: nothing less than restoring the legitimacy and credibility of federal law enforcement after the disastrous last four years of Donald Trump’s presidency.