When Does Doug Jones Run Again ?
UPDATED — Onetime U.S. Sen. Doug Jones had a lot of assets that put him on the short list of candidates for attorney general in the incoming Biden Assistants.
For ane matter, he had a longstanding friendship with the president-elect. For another, he had been a high-profile defence force chaser and a U.S. attorney in Alabama's northern district, and he had helped bring to justice two suspects in the horrific 1963 bombing of Birmingham'south Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. In addition, during his iii years every bit a U.S. senator, Jones had forged relationships across the alley. On top of that, senators traditionally are reluctant to vote against a former senator who is nominated for a Cabinet post.
Those assets are nevertheless there, and Democrats believe they may help Jones be successfully nominated for another post in the Biden Administration, just not that of the nation'south primary law enforcement officer.
On Th, Biden formally nominated federal appeals court approximate Merrick Garland for the AG post, proverb he embodied "honor and decency, integrity, fidelity to the rule of police and judicial independence."
In a Tweet, Jones said Garland would "bring the integrity, professionalism and dedication to DOJ that is badly needed."
Referring to a pro-Trump mob'southward Wednesday attack on the U.South. Capitol, Jones added, "The events of yesterday simply underscore the challenges that he and his talented team will confront on day ane and they will demand everyone's support. He and the team certainly have mine."
Old Alabama Supreme Courtroom Justice Ralph Cook said Wednesday that, for the by several weeks, he had been Zoom-discussing Jones and the attorney general nomination with some fellow Democrats. Their conclusion, he said, was that the longer information technology took for Biden to make his choice, the less likely that choice was going to be Jones.
Merely it may well accept been that Biden was waiting to see what would happen in Georgia's U.S. Senate runoff Tuesday. Every bit it happened, Democratic nominees Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock won the two seats in question, giving the party control of the Senate. Jones would accept been likely to be confirmed past a GOP-controlled Senate, if the Democrats had failed to win either Georgia Senate seat.
The 68-year-old Garland, a former federal prosecutor now serving on the U.South. Court of Appeals for the Commune of Columbia Circuit, was nominated by former President Barack Obama to make full a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy in 2016. Merely Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell balked, proverb whoever won the presidency in 2016 should fill the vacancy.
With a number of Republican senators expected to back up him, Garland is expected to be confirmed as attorney full general by the Senate, if Biden follows through and nominates him. Cook said Garland'due south nomination would requite Biden an opportunity to fill a vacancy in the D.C. Circuit with a much younger judge. The D.C. courtroom has jurisdiction over suits involving many federal agencies so has influence on administrative law and constitutional law.
Cook said he figures Jones "will state on his feet" somewhere in the Biden Administration. "They but have a long personal relationship, and Biden is going to take care of him," Cook said.
Melt also added that not getting the AG chore could be a blessing in disguise for the Fairfield native.
"In that location are a lot of positions available for Doug that will requite him a lot less headache than being AG, because over the adjacent four years, I suspect that that department is going to accept to be rebuilt to a significant degree and things are going to accept to be changed and then that it can instill confidence in the American people a bit more than," Cook said. "So there'south going to be a lot going on in the Justice Department."
"Who knows? Doug may go appointed an ambassador to some fancy place and we can all go visit," Melt said.
In their remarks Thursday, Biden and Garland indicated that a lot would be going on, including a restoration of the Justice Department's integrity and independence, which Biden said had been "so desperately damaged" during the Trump years.
"I want to be clear to those who lead this department … . You won't work for me," Biden said. "You are not the president's or the vice president's lawyer. Your loyalty isn't to me. Information technology's to the law, the Constitution, the people of this nation to guarantee justice."
Garland, referring to the Wednesday assail by a pro-Trump mob on the U.Southward. Capitol, said, "As everyone who watched yesterday'due south events … at present understands, if they did not sympathize before, the rule of law is not but some lawyer's turn of phrase. It is the very foundation of our commonwealth. The essence of the rule of law is that like cases are treated alike, that in that location non be one rule for Democrats, another for Republicans; one dominion for friends, another for foes; one rule for the powerful, another for the powerless; ane rule for the rich, another for the poor, or different rules depending upon one's race or ethnicity."
This story has been updated to include the official nomination and Jones' comments.
Source: https://birminghamwatch.org/jones-not-bidens-pick-for-ag-but-dont-count-him-out-of-the-administration-just-yet/
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