The Senate Judiciary Committee approved President Donald Trump's selection for attorney general William Barr on Thursday, according to CBS News.
Barr was approved along party lines within the Committee in a 12-10 vote and will now head for a full Senate floor vote, where he is expected to be confirmed.
The former attorney general between 1991 and 1993 would succeed Trump's first attorney general Jeff Sessions, who was forced to resign last year in November after Republicans suffered widespread losses in the midterm elections.
Democrats have been staunchly opposed to Barr's nomination since they want a stronger commitment from him to release special counsel Robert Mueller's final report.
Barr has only said he would release as much as he can under the law.
Democrats also cited a memo Barr wrote last year to the Justice Department which was highly critical of Mueller's investigation probing whether Trump obstructed justice while in office.
Ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein said the memo was "disqualifying" since she and other Democrats were concerned that Barr was not going to release Mueller's report to Congress, let alone the American public.
She also raised concerns about his reluctance in categorizing waterboarding as torture.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the committee's new chairman, called on Republicans to allow Barr to take over at the DOJ, which has currently been led by acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker.
"We need a new attorney general," he said Wednesday. "I appreciate what Mr. Whitaker has done, but I think the time has come for new leadership at the department."
During his confirmation hearing last month, Barr attempted to assure Democrats of his independence and said he would not be bullied by the Trump administration to do anything he believes is wrong at the Justice Department.
Barr also said he disagreed with the longstanding protocol from the Justice Department which says presidents cannot be indicted while in office.
-WN.com, Maureen Foody
Photo:
AP / Scott Applewhite
