If Kamala Harris is elected president, she would want her Justice Department to challenge policies from Republican states restricting abortion, voting and transgender rights, says the Washington Post, quoting people familiar with her transition team’s thinking. Current Attorney General Merrick Garland is known for his meticulousness in making decisions. Critics say his vow to run a law enforcement agency insulated from politics wasn’t realistic at a time when President Trump demonized the department and claimed it was biased against him. Harris wants an attorney general who would take a public role in explaining and forcefully defending the Justice Department’s policies and legal decisions. Names being circulated as potential attorneys general are people with strong Democratic Party ties. Getting a candidate confirmed could be difficult if Republicans take control of the Senate. If that happens, Harris could ask Garland to stay on for a while. If he is elected, Trump has said he would make sure Jack Smith — who is heading the prosecution of the Justice Department’s two criminal cases against him — is fired. He may use the Justice Department to prosecute his enemies. Harris, a former prosecutor, would inherit an agency that is fighting cyberattacks from foreign adversaries; has revived police accountability investigations halted during Trump’s term and has drastically expanded its antitrust actions.
Eric Holder, attorney general under President Obama, and Tony West — Harris’s brother-in-law, who held the No. 3 position in the Justice Department under Obama — have taken on informal roles planning for the agency’s transition if Harris wins. People close to Harris have mentioned Vanita Gupta as a potential pick for attorney general. Gupta, a longtime civil rights attorney, served as DOJ's No. 3 official under Garland for much of the Biden administration. She faced a bitter Senate confirmation process in 2021, when Democrats narrowly controlled the Senate, and she could be portrayed by Republicans as weak on crime. Gupta allies say she forged strong relationships with local and state law enforcement groups while at the Justice Department that could help her squeak through. The Fraternal Order of Police praised Gupta’s tenure when she left. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper would be a safer attorney general pick. Cooper served as the North Carolina attorney general while Harris was California attorney general, and the two are close friends. Cooper was on Harris’s short list for vice president. Much of what Harris has said about her potential Justice Department has differentiated how she and Trump would lead. She has derided Trump for suggesting he would prosecute his enemies. Both the Biden administration and a potential Harris administration have said that the Justice Department should have independence to lead criminal investigations.
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