Merrick Garland is reportedly one of Biden's attorney general candidates

Judge Merrick Garland is reportedly under consideration to serve as attorney general in President-elect Joe Biden's administration.

Garland, the federal appeals court judge who was nominated by former President Barack Obama to serve on the Supreme Court, is one of the candidates Biden is considering for the attorney general position, NPR reported on Friday.

Obama in 2016 nominated Garland to fill the Supreme Court seat left open after Justice Antonin Scalia's death, but Senate Republicans didn't hold a confirmation hearing for him, arguing that a new Supreme Court justice should not be seated during an election year. Senate Republicans later confirmed Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who was nominated by President Trump, to the Supreme Court during an election year in 2020, contending that the situation was different in the latter case because this time the same party controlled both the Senate and the presidency. Garland formerly served as chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Among other possible contenders for the position of attorney general in Biden's administration include Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, according to CBS News. But CBS also reports that the question of who Biden will pick for this position "isn't likely to be answered for several weeks."

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