Thread by @edokeefe

NEWS: @JoeBiden intends to nominate federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland to serve as U.S. attorney general, multiple people familiar tell me, @BoKnowsNews and @nancycordes.

@JoeBiden @BoKnowsNews @nancycordes Garland currently serves as chief judge on United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, considered to be the second-highest federal court in the country.

@JoeBiden @BoKnowsNews @nancycordes Garland, 68, was nominated by former president Barack Obama to the U.S. Supreme Court after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, but he was blocked from consideration by Republican senators.

@JoeBiden @BoKnowsNews @nancycordes Garland is also a veteran of the Justice Department, most notably overseeing the prosecution of Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber and Ted Kaczynski, better known as the “Unabomber.”

@JoeBiden @BoKnowsNews @nancycordes One person familiar with the choice said that the results of Tuesday’s U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia changed the dynamics of Mr. Biden’s choice and made the space for him to pick Garland.

“Last night changed a lot,” this person said.

@JoeBiden @BoKnowsNews @nancycordes Nominating Garland to lead DOJ opens up a slot on the second-highest federal court -- allowing Biden to make an early, prominent judicial pick.

@JoeBiden @BoKnowsNews @nancycordes Garland was chosen over other notable candidates, including former Sen. Doug Jones, also an ex-federal prosecutor and was considered to be a front-runner, especially if Republicans maintained Senate control. Sally Yates, the former deputy attorney general, was also considered.

@JoeBiden @BoKnowsNews @nancycordes Expect the Biden team to cast Garland as a nonpartisan, restorative figure to lead a department imperiled by four years of political interference by President Trump and his associates.

@JoeBiden @BoKnowsNews @nancycordes ONE CORRECTION: Garland is no longer chief judge on the D.C. Court of Appeals. That's now Judge Sri Srinivasan.