Back in early ʼ21‚ Merrick Garland took charge of Justice Department with a clear task - fix things after the Trump years mess. Almost four years later the departments mood has shifted‚ and now theres talk about whos next in line
The next boss might have different goals in mind: protecting rights from state-level restrictions and managing big tech cases (which already got Apple Google and Ticketmaster in hot water). Under Garlands watch the department got better at catching cyber-bad guys and made some cool updates to gun-tracking tech
- Fighting foreign cyber attacks
- Checking on police departments work
- Going after big companies that break rules
- Using new ways to track illegal guns
Behind closed doors Eric Holder and Tony West – who know their way around the building pretty well – are helping plan what comes next. Dana Remus‚ whos good at White House stuff is also giving advice
Some interesting names are floating around for the top job: Vanita Gupta (who used to be number 3 at Justice) might get picked; shes got friends in law enforcement. Roy Cooper – whos running North Carolina right now – could be a safe choice; hes buddies with the decision makers. Theres also Damian Williams from New York who might move up
The whole thing gets extra tricky cause of those Trump court cases that are still going on. But dont expect any quick changes there – its not normal to fire special counsels who arent done with their work yet. When asked about pardons and such the decision makers just say its too early to talk about that stuff