Once hailed as a stabilizing figure, Merrick Garland’s tenure as Attorney General is now widely viewed as a period of hesitation, inconsistency, and institutional decline that weakened public trust in the Department of Justice.
WASHINGTON | Merrick Garland entered the Department of Justice with a reputation as a calm, principled jurist who would restore stability after the political storms of the Trump years. Nearly four years later, critics across the political spectrum — from progressives to conservatives — argue that his cautious leadership and reluctance to act boldly have instead left the DOJ weakened, divided, and mistrusted.
Garland’s tenure, once defined by promises of restoring the rule of law, is now increasingly defined by hesitation in enforcement, politically inconsistent prosecutions, and a perception of institutional paralysis.
Analysts, legal scholars, and former prosecutors have begun referring to his DOJ as “the quietest during one of the loudest moments in American history.”
