“What first seemed like a petty partisan power play in the U.S. Senate has escalated into a setback for President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice before it even really leaves the starting block. At the center of the imbroglio is a figure who is accustomed to being collateral damage of partisan warfare on Capitol Hill: Merrick Garland. The former federal judge and Supreme Court nominee is Biden’s pick to serve as attorney general – but unlike other key Cabinet appointees, he has yet to receive a confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee for his nomination to lead the Department of Justice.”

“That’s because it took the parties’ Senate leaders weeks to agree on how to divide resources and set the rules in the evenly split Senate. During that time, Democrats were technically in the majority, but the last session’s rules were still in place, meaning Republicans ran the committees. So when the incoming Judiciary chairman, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), wanted to schedule a hearing for Garland, he first had to ask the permission of the outgoing chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) – and Graham said no. With the impeachment trial of former President Trump slated to take up at least all of next week, and the chamber scheduled to be in recess the following week, it’s possible that another month could pass before Garland takes over as attorney general, said Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), a member of the Judiciary panel and a close ally of Biden” – Daily Beast.