Merrick Garland
Former Attorney General · United States[1]
Merrick Garland served as the 86th United States Attorney General from March 2021 to January 2025 under President Joe Biden. He was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1997 to 2021 and returned to the law firm Arnold & Porter in May 2025.
Earnings by year1
What each year added up to: salary, plus outside income, royalties, endorsements, prizes and investment income where a source reports them. A financial disclosure gives ranges, shown as such.
- 2024$246,400Total
- Attorney General statutory salary[3]
- $246,400
Life phases1
One octagon for each phase of the life of Merrick Garland. Each of the eight axes is scored 0 to 5 against a written rubric from documented evidence, with its source; an axis without evidence is a gap, not a zero. There is no total and no ideal shape: it is a profile, not a ranking. Appearance and personality are not axes, because they cannot be scored from evidence.
No total and no ideal shape: a longer spoke means more of that axis, so a long Misconduct spoke is more documented misconduct.
Scores, rubric and sources
- 01Education4 of 5
- Medium confidenceHighest recorded degree: BA; JD.[1]Highest attainment by then: 1 secondary school, 2 some college, 3 bachelor's degree, 4 master's or professional degree, 5 doctorate.
- 02WealthNo evidence
- Net worth or income against the national thresholds of the time: 1 below the median household, 3 top 5%, 5 top 0.1%.
- 03Position4 of 5
- High confidenceFormer Attorney General: a national-level executive office.[1]Scope of the role held: 1 entry level, 3 senior manager or legislator, 5 head of state or government, or the top role of a major institution.
- 04Public standingNo evidence
- Public approval or favourability where it was measured: 1 under 20%, 3 35 to 50%, 5 over 65%.
- 05HealthNo evidence
- Documented health where an examination or disclosure exists: 5 no documented concern, 1 a serious documented condition.
- 06Misconduct3 of 5
- High confidence1 documented matter(s) in the reviewed legal record, counted as the misconduct meter counts them.[6]The documented legal and ethics record within the phase, as in the misconduct meter: 0 none documented, 1 only matters resolved in their favour, 2 an open matter, 3 one finding, 4 two or three, 5 four or more. More is more documented misconduct.
- 07Social goodNo evidence
- Assessed effects of what they did in the phase on health, safety, education, rights and the environment, from official statistics or peer-reviewed evidence: 0 clearly harmful, 2.5 mixed, 5 clearly beneficial.
- 08Economic goodNo evidence
- Assessed effects of what they did in the phase on efficiency, growth and fiscal sustainability, from CBO and peer-reviewed evidence, as in the good-for-society reading: 0 clearly harmful, 2.5 mixed, 5 clearly beneficial.
Health, weight and religion appear only where the person, their physician or a reputable outlet has published them; each links to its source.