WASHINGTON – William Barr was sworn in as the 85th attorney general of the United States on Thursday, immediately assuming leadership of a Justice Department in…
WASHINGTON – William Barr was sworn in as the 85th attorney general of the United States on Thursday, immediately assuming leadership of a Justice Department in the midst of multiple criminal investigations that have shadowed President Donald Trump’s administration and ensnared a half dozen former Trump aides.
Barr took the oath at a closed White House ceremony after the Senate voted to confirm him on a largely party-line vote of 54-45. His confirmation came despite concerns from some Democrats about how Barr planned to oversee special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Barr was expected to receive a full briefing on Mueller’s inquiry soon after his swearing-in.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders called the confirmation „a major victory for justice and the rule of law.“
Barr steps into a difficult job as the country’s top law enforcement officer, three months after Trump ousted his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who endured more than a year of criticism for recusing himself from the Russia investigation which the president has repeatedly derided as „witch hunt.“ Trump complained to the newspaper The Hill in September that „I have no attorney general.“
Sessions‘ interim replacement, Matthew Whitaker, also came under fire from Democrats in Congress after he rejected a recommendation from department attorneys that he step aside from that case.
Barr, 68, is a widely respected Washington lawyer who served as attorney general under President George H. W. Bush. He takes over an agency grappling with an epidemic of illegal drug overdoses and a crackdown on migrants who entered the USA illegally that separated thousands of children from their families.
„If America ever needed a steady hand at the Department of Justice, it is now,“ said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S. C., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. „Mr. Whitaker has done a good job as interim attorney general, but we’re looking for a new person to bring stability, improve morale and be a steady hand – mature leadership – at a time when our country is very much divided.
