On a largely party-line vote in the U.S. Senate last week, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Justice, William Barr, was confirmed as the next U.S. Attorney General. Regardless, just as what happened during the confirmation hearings with Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, both of Virginia’s lawmakers in the upper chamber, Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, refused to support Trump’s nominee.
Kaine released a very short statement on his position on the nomination of William Barr for U.S. Attorney General:
“I will oppose the nomination of William Barr to be Attorney General. I have deep concern, based upon the memo he wrote the Trump Administration and his testimony before the Judiciary Committee, about his views on the Mueller investigation and whether he will make sure its full results are shared with the public.”
Warner, on the other hand, took to the Senate floor to urge his colleagues to oppose Barr.
In his remarks, Warner questioned Barr’s independence, citing a memo he provided to President Trump’s legal team last June that was critical of White House Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Barr reportedly asserted a more limited authority for the special counsel, as well as caused concerns that the report will be kept confidential, but will nevertheless attempt to make some of it public.
Warning of political interference into the investigation of Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential election, Warner also questioned Barr’s “problematically expansive views” on the appropriate use of presidential pardons.
Moreover, the Democratic Senator raised concerns about Barr’s stances on a number of policy issues including mandatory minimums, equality provisions for the LGBTQ community, abortion, and what he called the “Muslim ban.”
Nonetheless, Barr – after serving as the 77th Attorney General under the late former President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 – is the first to repeat the position since its inception in 1789. He will replace acting-Attorney General Matt Whitaker who was thrust into the position following his tenure as chief of staff to former Attorney General Sessions after a two-year, mostly bad-tempered relationship with President Trump.