In a move that surprised absolutely no one and thrilled only the most ardent fans of procedural rigor, Merrick Garland has returned to Arnold & Porter as a partner in their Appellate & Supreme Court practice group. The former Attorney General who — depending on who you ask — exemplified judicious restraint or the Democratic Party’s lingering commitment to bringing pointy sticks to gun fights is back in the private sector.

...

Garland’s career arc is the stuff of centrist dreams: Harvard summa cum laude, clerkships with Judge Friendly and Justice Brennan, a stint at Arnold & Porter, and then a long tenure on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. President Obama nominated Garland to the Supreme Court to replace Antonin Scalia as a concession to Senate Republicans who spent the preceding several years dragging Democratic nominees for not being Merrick Garland. When presented with the opportunity to confirm their paradigmatic example of a judge, Republicans opted to shirk their constitutional duty to even hold a vote — turning “advice and consent” into “ignore.”

As Attorney General under President Biden, Garland was tasked with restoring the Department of Justice’s reputation for impartiality and independence. In a historic instance of overcorrection, he approached this mission with the fervor of a man meticulously organizing his sock drawer while the house burned down.