The Daily 202: Attorney general nominee Merrick Garland faces CPAC-speaker grilling

How to smother domestic extremism? How to protect voting rights? How to secure elections? And whether to pursue criminal action against former president Donald Trump? Those are some of the key questions Merrick Garland, President Biden’s attorney general nominee, faces in two days of hearings that started this morning.

And, as my colleague Devlin Barrett notes this morning:

It’s not just the questions, it’s the questioners, who will almost surely raise the political temperature in Washington, four years after the GOP denied the federal appellate judge so much as a hearing when President Barack Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court.

House and Senate Judiciary Committees traditionally tend to attract political partisans, in part because the panels tackle issues like abortion and impeachment. Four of the panel’s 11 Republicans, including GOP Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.) Ted Cruz (Texas), Tom Cotton (Ark.) and Ben Sasse (Neb.), see themselves as 2024 presidential contenders. For them, the hearings provide a high-profile platform from which to polish their political image — much as Vice President Harris did with her prosecutorial questioning style when she was a senator.

While Trump’s remarks on Sunday will be the big draw at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference that kicks off Friday, some of Garland’s questioners will also address the annual gathering.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), is scheduled to speak for 10 minutes Friday morning on “Why the Left Hates the Bill of Rights … and We Love It.” Later that morning, Cruz, who voted to cancel Biden’s electoral victory, has a 15-minute slot for “Bill of Rights, Liberty and Cancel Culture.” A few hours after that, Hawley , who also supported overthrowing the election results, has a quarter of an hour to speak on a topic not listed in the CPAC schedule. Cotton has a comparably staid topic for his slot: “Keeping America Safe.” Same goes for Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who will address “Fighting for Freedom of Speech at Home and Across the World.” (There are two House members, but no senators, scheduled to join a 30-minute talk on Saturday entitled “Who’s the Boss, Where’s My Applesauce? Who’s Really Running the Biden Administration.”)

The GOP side of Senate Judiciary panel also includes Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who, as my colleague Josh Dawsey reported, has worked to patch things up with Trump after initially expressing deep frustration in the aftermath of the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot carried out by supporters of the former president.

Garland, who oversaw judicial proceedings against Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, linked that process directly to the Capitol insurrection early this year, mentioning both in the same paragraph of his opening remarks to the committee.

He said this morning the Capitol riot will be his first priority as attorney general.

“From 1995 to 1997, I supervised the prosecution of the perpetrators of the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, who sought to spark a revolution that would topple the federal government,” Garland said. “If confirmed, I will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on January 6 — a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government.”

Asked by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) whether he would investigate people “upstream” from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Garland said his Justice Department would follow evidence wherever it leads. And Garland sounded skeptical of the need for new laws to target domestic terrorism, saying he would look into the matter but existing law had proven “quite capable” of convicting home-grown extremists. 

“We begin with the people on the ground and we work our way up to those who are involved and further involved,” Garland said. “And we will pursue these leads wherever they take us.”

“More than 225 people have been charged with various crimes directly related to storming the Capitol on Jan. 6. Justice Department officials have said that they do not expect to file criminal charges against Trump or others who gave incendiary speeches in Washington that day before the violence, but they also said the case is complex and the investigation ongoing.”

As for pursuing Trump himself, the top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, seemed to invite the Justice Department to consider its options in a speech after the former president’s acquittal.

“There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” McConnell said after voting to acquit. “He didn’t get away with anything, yet. We still have a criminal justice system in this country. We still have civil litigation, and former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one.”

Garland could also face questioning on an issue that has gained new currency since Jan. 6 — whether the United States needs new legislation taking aim at domestic terrorism. (Garland himself did not need one to convict McVeigh and co-conspirator Terry L. Nichols of charges stemming from the April 1995 truck bombing in Oklahoma City.)

But lawmakers may have to weigh the utility of a new statute against the bipartisan unease toward two decades of “war on terrorism” powers — warrantless wiretapping, no-fly lists — and concerns about eroding civil liberties or limits imposed on law enforcement imposed after civil-rights era abuses.

Republican senators are likely to test him with questions about the federal tax investigation into Hunter Biden as well as the latest probe into the Russia investigation, run by Connecticut federal prosecutor John Durham.

In the end, Garland is expected to secure bipartisan support for confirmation. But the speechifying in the process is likely to be anything but.

Read our live coverage of the Garland hearing here. And watch our live stream below or here:

Breaking: The Supreme Court rejected Trump’s request to keep his tax records secret in a ruling that will shake up Washington. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is seeking access to eight years of Trump’s financial records regarding hush-money payments to two women before the 2016 election, Robert Barnes reports. After a four-month delay, the court denied Trump’s last-chance effort to keep his private financial records from Vance in a one-sentence order with no recorded dissents.

• More: “Investigators want to determine whether efforts were made to conceal the payments on tax documents by labeling them as legal expenses,” Barnes writes. “But Vance says there are other aspects of the investigation that have not been publicly disclosed. Court filings by the prosecutors suggest the investigation is looking into other allegations of impropriety, perhaps involving tax and insurance fraud.”
• Meanwhile, SCOTUS won’t take up a Pennsylvania elections case challenging the validity of mail-in ballots. The case questioned the state supreme court’s decision to extend deadlines for mail-in ballots, Barnes reports.

Leverage. A majority of Trump voters, 54 percent, say they feel more loyalty to him than to the Republican Party at 34 percent, according to a new Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll. If the former president formed a third party, 46 percent would support it, while 27 percent would stay in the GOP, and 27 percent say they aren’t sure. Just 17 percent of Trump voters surveyed say Biden was legitimately elected, while 73 percent say he was not; and only 26 percent say Republicans in Congress should work with the president. As for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, 58 percent of Trump voters say they believe the lie that it was an antifa-inspired attack.

American coronavirus cases are dropping to levels not seen since the fall as the U.S. death toll nears 500,000. Virus fatalities are almost 30 percent lower this week than last week, and hospitalizations are down 15 percent, Erin Cunningham, Paul Schemm and Brittany Shammas report. Experts warn there’s still a long way to go in the fight, however, with Anthony S. Fauci cautioning that masks might still be needed in 2022.  Biden plans a candle-lighting ceremony this evening to mark the tragic milestone.

Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit this morning against Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow. The company argues Lindell has refused to stop repeating false claims that its voting machines were manipulated to rig the 2020 election against Trump, Emma Brown reports. 

Snow is falling steadily over the D.C. region amid a winter weather advisory. Slick roads are likely, especially along and west of Interstate 95, per Jason Samenow.

• “The youngest victims of a national calamity, and the people they left behind,” by Marc Fisher, Ariana Eunjung Cha, Annie Gowen, Arelis Hernández and Lori Rozsa: “271 children [have died of covid-19] as of early February, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC. … Although relatively few children die of covid-19, ‘it’s not fair to say it’s a benign disease among children,’ said Sean O’Leary, an immunization researcher at Children’s Hospital Colorado and vice chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on infectious diseases. … The children who have died of covid-19 are, even more than among adults, disproportionately children of color — about three-quarters of those who’ve succumbed to covid so far.”
• “Attacks on Asian Americans during pandemic renew criticism that U.S. undercounts hate crimes,” by David Nakamura: “Although Biden last month signed an executive action banning the federal government from employing the sort of ‘inflammatory and xenophobic’ language Trump used to describe the virus — such as ‘China plague’ and ‘kung flu’ — Asian American leaders said the recent attacks demonstrate a need for greater urgency in dealing with such threats.”

• “The CDC recommended states prioritize farm workers for the Covid-19 vaccine. Some large agricultural states have not,” by the Counter’s Frank Hernandez: “Because farmworkers risk Covid-19 exposure in the course of their jobs, the CDC proposed that they should be near the front of the vaccination line. But Texas and Florida, which have large farmworker populations, have not included farm workers in their initial rollouts, according to state documents.” 
• “Entire California school board resigns after ‘hot mic’ catches them insulting parents,” by the Sacramento Bee’s Don Sweeney: “The resignations follow an outcry after trustees were heard before a Wednesday board meeting attacking parents for demanding that schools reopen, according to the station. ‘They want to pick on us because they want their babysitters back,’” Lisa Brizendine, president of the Oakley Union Elementary School District board near San Francisco, said of school parents. 
• “Uprising grows over Cuomo’s bullying and ‘brutalist political theater,’” by the New York Times’s Jesse McKinley and Luis Ferré-Sadurní: “In interviews with more than three dozen legislators, political consultants, former state and city officials and New York political veterans, a recurring portrait emerges of Mr. Cuomo: a talented and deft politician whose tendency toward aggression can seem out of step in an age when abusive behavior in the workplace or in professional surroundings is increasingly called out and often censured.” 

While the White House stood by Tanden early in the day, the Senate math looks unforgiving, and it’s hard to see a path in which Biden rallies the necessary votes. That would make her the first Biden nomination to fail. Such a failure highlights the clout that centrist Democrats like Manchin wield over the young presidency’s ambitious agenda at a time when the party must hang together to muscle key items to passage in the face of Republican opposition.

• Romney announced his opposition this morning, with his spokesman saying the senator “has been critical of extreme rhetoric from prior nominees and this is consistent with his position. He believes it’s hard to return to comity and respect with a nominee who has issued a thousand mean tweets.”
• Collins said Tanden “has neither the experience nor the temperament to lead this critical agency.” Tanden had received bipartisan criticism for her prior attacks against Republican lawmakers and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
• In a tweet this morning, White House press secretary Jen Psaki doubled down on the case for confirming Tanden, calling her an “accomplished policy expert” who would be the first Asian American woman to lead the agency.
• The White House continues scrambling to find GOP support for Tanden following Manchin’s Friday announcement he will oppose her, John Wagner reports.
• Tanden’s best hope now depends on support from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) declined to say this morning whether Democrats could secure another GOP vote for Tanden, saying he hasn’t “worked it yet.”
• ICYMI: Post columnist and conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, who says he has “more Tanden-inflicted scars than the villains in all the Zorro movies and television episodes combined,” thinks the GOP should forgive her. “Tanden has apologized for her tart language. Senators — not just Manchin but also Republicans — should accept that and vote to confirm her,” he writes.

• Becerra, who will appear before senators tomorrow, will have the power to make health benefits for undocumented workers a reality, something he fought for during the Obama administration, Politico reports.
• Becerra’s ideas are already being used against him by Republicans. “His interest is in trying to get illegal aliens on government-subsidized health care options,” said an aide for Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), per Politico. “If he was confirmed, he could weaponize HHS as a mechanism to push for open borders, and legitimize the illegal alien agenda that he’s pushing for. That has gotten some attention on the Hill.”
• There’s also the question of whether Democratic moderates back Becerra on the issue. There is wide but hardly unanimous Democratic support for expanding health benefits to undocumented immigrants.

• The White House directive on when to engage with the former president is stark: “Never.” That is according to Biden communications Kate Bedingfield, who told our colleagues Ashley Parker and Matt Viser “the focus is entirely on President Biden’s agenda, and Donald Trump doesn’t factor in that for us.”
• “In some ways, it’s much easier to ignore Trump now that we’re in the White House, because we’re not running against him,” said White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain. “We’re running against the coronavirus, we’re running against a number of challenges. And the Biden presidency rises and falls on the Biden presidency.”
• The reality, however, may prove more difficult. Political operatives say ignoring Trump comes with its own risks. “Ignoring him might be a practical strategy today in a way that it wasn’t in 2016,” said Republican strategist Michael Steel. But, he added, “if he’s able to come back in a big way, you can’t ignore him, because he changes the discussion, he changes the debate, he becomes the issue, and he’s willing to say and do practically anything to pull that attention and pull that debate his way.”

“Trump and Trumpism aren’t going away, because Biden represents a return to the issues that gave rise to them in the first place: mass amnesty, kowtowing to China, crushing American jobs under the weight of radical environmentalism and forever wars in the Middle East,” Cliff Sims, a former Trump White House official, said. “If Democrats — and even some Republicans — think they can stick their heads in the sand and return to their pre-Trump status quo, they’re in for another rude awakening in ’22 and ’24.”

• Businesses with more than 20 employees will be shut out of the PPP program for a two-week period starting Wednesday, officials said. The administration has not said whether it will seek to extend the program after the current tranche of funding expires March 31. But the new changes signal the Treasury Department will continue to support the program at least in the short term, while instituting relatively minor changes designed to tame its excesses, Aaron Gregg reports.

• Currently, the U.S. is administering 1.7 million shots per day, but as many as roughly double those doses are expected to be available daily now that the U.S. is on the verge of a supply breakthrough, the AP reports. Manufacturing is ramping up and experts widely expect the third vaccine, by Johnson & Johnson, will become available in the coming weeks.
• About 145 million doses are set for delivery in the next five to six weeks, with an additional 200 million expected by the end of May and a further 200 million by the end of July. The White House’s goal now is to create enough vaccination sites so they will be ready to handle the influx.

• The House Oversight and Reform  Committee will hold the hearing for Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s statehood bill on March 11, Meagan Flynn reports. Democrats are pushing the statehood issue as a top civil rights and voting rights priority following the Jan. 6 attack and the social justice demonstrations over the summer.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has, like Cruz for his Cancún trip, earned Texans’ ire for his behavior during the state’s freezing weather. “It was clear by Tuesday afternoon that Texas was in a full-blown crisis — and Abbott had largely been out of sight,” Annie Gowen, Tim Craig and Arelis Hernández report. 

As Texans across the state faced the cold, the governor only appeared in the evening in a series of television interviews, culminating with a Fox News appearance during which he blamed his state’s problems on environmental policies pushed by liberals.

Past crises are prologue: “In each crisis, Abbott often carefully studied the situation — and its political ramifications — before taking action, usually demanding future legislative changes that may never happen. He is known to deliver different messages to the various constituencies in his state, all while trying to build a national profile as a conservative leader.”

This time, however, people were furious. “Citizens across the state posted angry memes on social media about the governor, crafting basketball-sized snowballs they wanted to aim at him and superimposing “Where is Greg Abbott?” over a hellscape.”

Trump will use his CPAC speech to claim control over the GOP, longtime adviser Jason Miller told Axios. Mike Pence, meanwhile, declined an invitation to attend the conservative conference, CNN reports. CPAC starts Thursday. Already, some of the panels have raised eyebrows: 

Biden, Harris, the first lady, and the second gentleman will mark the grim milestone of 500,000 U.S. covid-19 deaths with a candle lighting ceremony and a moment of silence today at 6:15 p.m. 

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will tomorrow hear Jan. 6 witness accounts from the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, the former House sergeant-at-arms and the former Senate sergeant-at-arms. The House has its version of the hearings on Thursday.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources will on Tuesday hear testimony from Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), Biden’s interior secretary nominee. 

• That same day, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold hearings for Becerra, the secretary of health and human services nominee.
• On Wednesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee will hold hearings for the nomination of William Burns to lead the CIA.
• On Thursday, Katherine Tai, Biden’s nominee to be the U.S. trade representative, will testify before the Senate Finance Committee.

John Oliver explained why greater oversight is needed in the meatpacking industry: