The longtime civil rights attorney and Justice Department veteran was confirmed in a vote of 51-48
WASHINGTON – A divided U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm Kristen Clarke to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, where she will oversee two high-profile investigations into possible patterns of police misconduct in Minneapolis and Louisville.
Clarke, a longtime civil rights attorney and Justice Department veteran, was confirmed in a vote of 51-48 on the one-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Nearly all Republicans opposed her nomination.
She is the first woman, and the first Black woman, to be confirmed as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine was the lone Republican to back her nomination.
“This is not the right nominee for a crucial post at a crucial time,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor earlier this week, and accused her of having a history of making statements that put her on “the far-left fringe of the political spectrum.”
Clarke was a trial attorney in the Justice Department’s voting rights section and worked in several other positions before taking a job with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
She previously served as the civil rights chief for the New York State Attorney General’s Office. Since January 2016, she has worked as president and executive director for the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Clarke “is an accomplished civil rights attorney who has earned the respect of all sides,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday, ahead of the vote.
