President Trump’s leading choice to be the next attorney general, William Barr, has one advantage over others that is likely making him even more attractive: he was already confirmed unanimously to the Senate in 1991.
Barr served as former President George H.W. Bush’s attorney general from 1991 to 1993. And in 1991, when the Senate considered Barr, it was a slam dunk.
Then-Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., a possible opponent of Trump’s in 2020, said Barr was so agreeable the Senate should quickly approve him.
“I know of no one on the Democratic side asking for a roll call vote,” Biden said. “I see no need for one.”
Then-Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., congratulated President George H.W. Bush for the nominee, and Barr was approved in a voice vote.
It may not be that much different this time around, should Barr become the nominee. On Thursday, both Republicans and Democrats said Barr seemed like a solid choice.
“Yes, he could,” Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said when asked if Barr could win bipartisan support.
But nominees under Trump have been more harshly criticized by Democrats. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, for example, was approved unanimously by the Senate in 2006 to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, but was confirmed in a mostly party-line 54-45 vote in 2017.
Other Trump administration officials have seen their support narrow in the Senate as they take other posts. Mike Pompeo won 66 votes in the Senate to be CIA director, but then won just 57 votes to become secretary of state.
