Joe Biden taps Merrick Garland to lead Justice Department: report

President-elect Joe Biden has reportedly chosen federal judge Merrick Garland as his nominee for attorney general.

Two sources with knowledge of the decision told Politico that Biden had picked Garland, the chief justices of the United States Court of Appeals in D.C., over former Sen. Doug Jones and former deputy attorney general Sally Yates.

Jones had been seen as the safest bet for confirmation before Democrats won an apparent Senate majority by sweeping Tuesday's elections in Georgia, and Biden chose to elevate Garland -- who had been recusing himself from cases involving the federal government in recent weeks -- to lead the Justice Department.

Former President Barack Obama had nominated Garland to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked his nomination until after President Donald Trump was elected, and eventually tapped Neal Gorsuch.