{"id":1596901,"date":"2022-08-09T13:01:12","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T17:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1596901"},"modified":"2022-08-09T13:03:42","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T17:03:42","slug":"the-20-republican-senators-who-voted-to-confirm-merrick-garland-owe-america-an-apology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-20-republican-senators-who-voted-to-confirm-merrick-garland-owe-america-an-apology\/","title":{"rendered":"The 20 Republican Senators Who Voted To Confirm Merrick Garland Owe America An Apology"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-20-republican-senators-who-voted-to-confirm-merrick-garland-owe-america-an-apology%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1596901&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>After Merrick Garland\u2019s Department of Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/09\/conflict-of-interest-much-garland-oversees-raid-on-president-who-denied-him-scotus-seat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">oversaw<\/a> an FBI raid on the private home of former President Donald Trump, the 20 Republicans who joined Democrats to confirm Garland\u2019s nomination as attorney general must emphatically condemn the nominee they once supported or voters should replace them in their primaries.<\/p>\n<p>When Garland was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/legislative\/LIS\/roll_call_votes\/vote1171\/vote_117_1_00114.htm#position\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">confirmed<\/a> in March 2021, only 30 of 50 Republican senators voted against it. The other 20 \u2014 Senators Blunt, Burr, Capito, Cassidy, Collins, Cornyn, Ernst, Graham, Grassley, Inhofe, Johnson, Lankford, McConnell, Moran, Murkowski, Portman, Romney, Rounds, Thune, and Tillis \u2014 all joined Democrats to approve Garland\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n<p>Some of those 30, like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2022\/08\/09\/trump-fbi-search-maralago\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Grassley<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/johnson-questions-detached-biden-admin-after-not-being-notified-fbi-maralago-raid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Johnson<\/a>, have since strongly criticized Garland\u2019s tenure as attorney general and had already condemned the raid by Tuesday morning, to their credit. But others have been conspicuously silent, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courier-journal.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2021\/03\/10\/mitch-mcconnell-votes-confirm-merrick-garland-attorney-general-joe-biden\/6938447002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">praised<\/a> Garland\u2019s \u201clong reputation as a straight-shooter and legal expert\u201d at the time of his confirmation. <\/p>\n<p>Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/senate\/532924-lindsey-graham-praises-merrick-garland-as-sound-choice-to-serve-as-attorney\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> Garland \u201cwould be a sound choice to be the next Attorney General. He is a man of great character, integrity, and tremendous competency in the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><\/figure>\n<p>Although some tried to portray Garland as a \u201cmoderate,\u201d he had already shown by the end of his confirmation hearings that he was far from it. In accepting Biden\u2019s nomination, Reuters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-senate-justice-garland-idUSKBN2AJ16S\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, \u201cGarland said he believes the department\u2019s top priorities will be \u2018ensuring racial equity\u2019 and \u2018meeting the evolving threat of violent extremism.\u2019\u201d That\u2019s easy code for pushing leftist race politics and targeting conservatives whom Garland views as a political threat.<\/p>\n<p>In his hearing, Garland <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenTomCotton\/status\/1367263200945831940?s=20\">refused<\/a> to answer \u201cwhether illegally entering the country should remain a crime.\u201d He also <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/03\/10\/senate-confirms-merrick-garland-as-bidens-attorney-general\/\">refused<\/a> to say whether he would protect female athletes from having their privacy and victories interrupted by men, and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefdrlst.wpengine.com\/2021\/02\/22\/merrick-garland-may-hide-durham-report-from-public\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">refused<\/a> to commit to releasing special counsel John Durham\u2019s report probing the Russia collusion hoax against Donald Trump. Those red flags and others contributed to opposition from senators like Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, Josh Hawley, Marsha Blackburn, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and others.<\/p>\n<p>Cruz <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/merrick-garland-confirmation-vote\/2021\/03\/10\/2ff813a0-80fc-11eb-81db-b02f0398f49a_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained<\/a> his \u201cno\u201d vote on Garland\u2019s confirmation because Garland had \u201crefused to make clear that he would stand against the politicization of the department, which we saw during the Obama-Biden years.\u201d Scott <a href=\"https:\/\/floridapolitics.com\/archives\/411683-garland-scott\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">called<\/a> Garland a \u201cradical\u201d who might \u201cpoliticize\u201d the Department of Justice. In a scathing takedown of Garland\u2019s positions, Cotton <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cotton.senate.gov\/news\/speeches\/america-cannot-afford-merrick-garland-as-attorney-general\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> that \u201cwhen he did answer questions, he sounded more like a liberal ideologue who would embrace the radical agenda of the Democratic party\u2019s far left base.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf confirmed,\u201d Cotton added, \u201cI\u2019m afraid that he\u2019ll enable extremists in the Justice Department to undermine our police, our Constitution, and our rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since his appointment, Garland has continued showing himself to be nothing but a partisan hack. One of his most stunning acts of <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/27\/merrick-garland-says-hell-keep-targeting-parents-even-after-school-board-group-apologized-for-its-bogus-domestic-terrorism-claims\/\">corruption<\/a> was the reliance on a letter from the National School Boards Association \u2014 since revealed to have been <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/01\/12\/biden-education-secretary-planting-nsba-letter-takes-a-page-from-russia-collusion-hoax-playbook\/\">planted<\/a> by the Biden Education Department \u2014 to sic the FBI on concerned parents showing up to school board meetings.<\/p>\n<p>After the Supreme Court\u2019s leaked <em>Dobbs<\/em> decision saw radical abortion activists firebombing and vandalizing pregnancy support clinics around the country, Garland put more public <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-statement-supreme-court-ruling-dobbs-v-jackson-women-s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">effort<\/a> into opposing the decision than opposing the violence. He refused to enforce the law when demonstrators waged a pressure and intimidation campaign at justices\u2019 private homes, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/20\/would-a-fanatic-have-tried-to-murder-brett-kavanaugh-if-merrick-garland-had-enforced-federal-law-against-intimidation-of-justices\/\">culminating<\/a> in an assassination attempt on Justice Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s life. <\/p>\n<p>In other Supreme Court decisions too, the Garland DOJ has shown its <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/24\/merrick-garlands-department-of-justice-is-a-threat-to-the-republic\/\">politicization<\/a> by \u201crespectfully disagreeing\u201d with outcomes it has no legitimate reason to comment on. It has raided other Republicans\u2019 homes in an obvious lead-up to its Mar-a-Lago raid. And Garland has <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/26\/grassley-blasts-fbi-doj-as-corrupted-to-their-very-core-after-whistleblowers-allege-biden-family-business-coverup\/\">ignored<\/a> whistleblower reports that the FBI covered up evidence against Hunter Biden in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election involving his father.<\/p>\n<p>Under Garland, the DOJ <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/07\/24\/biden-doj-wont-investigate-deadly-nursing-home-policies-in-these-democrat-run-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">refused<\/a> to investigate the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents at the hands of incompetent blue state leaders who forced Covid patients into their facilities. Garland personally <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/09\/09\/bidens-justice-department-is-suing-texas-over-pro-life-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a> the DOJ\u2019s lawsuit against Texas for its law protecting the lives of babies in utero after a heartbeat is detectable.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s obvious Merrick Garland is no \u201cstraight shooter,\u201d and Republicans who aren\u2019t actively opposing the political weaponization of his federal law enforcement agency are part of the problem. Voters should be watching how their elected representatives <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/top-senate-republicans-begin-weigh-trump-fbi-raid-slower-response-house-counterparts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">respond<\/a> \u2014 or don\u2019t \u2014 to his most recent and most outrageous abuse of power.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Elle Reynolds is an assistant editor at The Federalist, and received her B.A. in government from Patrick Henry College with a minor in journalism. You can follow her work on Twitter at @_etreynolds.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After Merrick Garland\u2019s Department of Justice oversaw an FBI raid on the private home of former President Donald Trump, the 20 Republicans who joined Democrats to confirm Garland\u2019s nomination as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":500,"featured_media":1897912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1596901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_finder_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/09\/the-20-republican-senators-who-voted-to-confirm-merrick-garland-owe-america-an-apology\/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-20-republican-senators-who-voted-to-confirm-merrick-garland-owe-america-an-apology","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/500"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1596901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1897912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1596901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1596901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1596901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}