The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Kristen Clarke as the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the first black woman to hold the …
The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Kristen Clarke as the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the first black woman to hold the position, shrugging off Republican concerns about her past writings and social media history. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was the only Republican to join all 50 Democrats in supporting Clarke’s confirmation. She was also the only Republican to vote to end debate on Clarke’s nomination. The vote to confirm Clarke came on the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, timing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) described as “particularly poignant and appropriate.” Clarke will oversee a DOJ office that is carrying out investigations into the police forces in Minneapolis and Louisville, and has filed federal charges against Chauvin and three other former officers in the botched arrest that led to Floyd’s death.
