Biden introduces Merrick Garland as his attorney general nominee, names other cabinet picks

President-elect Joe Biden introduced his pick for the nation’s top law enforcement official on Thursday, turning to experienced judge Merrick Garland to help de-politicize the Justice Department and restore the rule of law after what the incoming president described as four years of lawlessness under President Donald Trump.

Biden also described the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on Wednesday as “domestic terrorists” and assailed the Republican president for inciting the siege.

“The past four years we’ve had a president who’s made his contempt for our democracy, our Constitution, the rule of law, clear in everything he has done,” Biden said, vowing a dramatic shift in his administration. “More than anything, we need to restore the honor, the integrity, the independence of the Department of Justice that’s been so badly damaged.”

» UPDATE: The latest news on Wednesday’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol

Biden vowed that Garland’s loyalty would rest not with the president, but with the law and Constitution.

“You don’t work for me,” Biden charged as he introduced Garland.

Facing the public for the first time at Biden’s side, Garland promised to restore an equal commitment to law and order and integrity to the nation’s top law enforcement agency, pointing to Wednesday’s assault on the Capitol as a consequence of failing to do so.

“As everyone who watched yesterday’s events in Washington now understands, if they did not understand before, the rule of law is not just some lawyers’ turn of phrase, it is the very foundation of our democracy,” Garland said.

Garland may be a familiar name to political observers.

Senate Republicans spurned him four years ago, refusing even to hold hearings when President Barack Obama nominated him for the Supreme Court. His confirmation prospects as attorney general were all but ensured when Democrats scored control of the Senate majority by winning both Georgia Senate seats.

Biden also introduced three others for senior Justice Department leadership posts on Thursday, including Obama administration homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general and former Justice Department civil rights chief Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general, the No. 3 official. He also named an assistant attorney general for civil rights, Kristen Clarke, now the president of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, an advocacy group.

Garland was selected over other finalists including former Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.

The department is expected to change course dramatically under new leadership, including through a different approach to civil rights issues and national policing policies following the racial reckoning sparked by continued deaths of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement.

Black and Latino advocates wanted a Black attorney general or someone with a background in civil rights causes and criminal justice reform. Groups including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund had championed Garland’s Supreme Court nomination, but the extent of support from minority groups for the attorney general job was not immediately clear.

Though Garland is white, the selection of Gupta and Clarke, two women with significant experience in civil rights, appeared designed to blunt any concerns and served as a signal that progressive causes would be prioritized in the new administration.

President-elect Joe Biden will select Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as his labor secretary, according to two people familiar with the decision, choosing a former union worker who shares his Irish American background and working-class roots.

Walsh, 53, has served as the Democratic mayor of Boston since 2014. When he took the oath of office for his second term as Boston’s chief executive in 2018, Biden presided over the inauguration. His selection was confirmed by two people familiar with the decision who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid preempting Biden’s official announcement.

Before that, Walsh served as a state representative for more than a decade.

Walsh, a former union worker, has a long history with labor. He served as president of Laborers Local 223 and, before becoming mayor, headed up the Boston Building Trades — a union umbrella organization.

During his tenure as mayor, Walsh has overseen the city’s ongoing rejuvenation, which has led to challenges that include gentrification and rising housing costs.

He’s also had to grapple with the city’s history of racial tensions to try to make the city more welcoming for people of all backgrounds.

The son of Irish immigrants, Walsh grew up in a triple-decker in Boston’s working-class Dorchester neighborhood. As a child, he survived a four-year bout with Burkitt lymphoma starting when he was 7.

Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service Employees International Union, said Walsh brings a “pro-worker vision” to the Labor Department that is badly needed and called him a “champion for working people.”

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said Walsh will be an “exceptional” labor secretary who understands that collective bargaining will combat inequality, beat COVID-19 and expand opportunities for immigrants, women and people of power.

President-elect Joe Biden has picked Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo to lead the Commerce Department, helping set trade policy and looking to promote U.S. opportunities for growth domestically and overseas.

Raimondo, a former venture capitalist, is in her second term as governor and previously served as state treasurer. Her name had been floated for Biden’s health secretary, though she said last month she would be staying in Rhode Island and continuing to focus on the coronavirus pandemic.

Her nomination, which was confirmed by a person familiar with the decision, will need to be approved by the Senate. The person was not authorized to preempt Biden’s announcement and spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity.

The Biden administration’s stance on international trade will likely be a significant shift away from President Donald Trump’s tariff-heavy approach. The Trump administration imposed tariffs on Chinese goods including steel to punish Beijing for what it said were unfair currency practices and potential national security threats. Those moves were largely opposed by U.S. allies, including Canada.

Biden opposes Chinese tariffs and has promised to improve U.S. relationships with countries around the hemisphere and globe. But he hasn’t indicated that undoing the tariffs will be a top priority. Instead he has promised to while campaigning for president to oversee an aggressive “Buy American” campaign that would use federal funds to purchase $400 billion of U.S.-made goods while spending an additional $300 billion on new research and development from domestic technology firms.

Biden’s administration has promised more robust promotion of U.S. exports and to encourage trade that emphasizes protecting the environment and combating climate change.

Biden’s Commerce Department may see much of its political philosophy dictated by his choice for other top economic Cabinet positions, including treasury secretary. Biden picked Janet Yellen, a former Federal Reserve chair and labor economist who, if confirmed by the Senate, would be the first woman to hold the post.

Yellen will be tasked with mapping the nation’s post-pandemic economic recovery, determining how to stimulate growth and safely reopen some parts of the economy that have been all-but shuttered for months. She has already said she plans to use her agency to help combat economic inequality, which has reached historic proportions nationwide, and to combat climate change.