Power

The Real Question Progressives Should Ask About the New Attorney General

We must examine Holder's potential successors' lived experiences to uncover what their priorities are, whom they’re accountable to, and what values they’ll take into this appointment.

Eric Holder
We must examine the potential new attorney general's lived experiences to uncover what their priorities are, whom they’re accountable to, and what values they’ll take into this appointment. U.S. Embassy / Flickr

Read more of our articles on Attorney General Eric Holder’s potential successor here.

Attorney General Eric Holder’s retirement announcement was met with a predictable amount of adulation and criticism, as well as a chorus of  “Who will be next?” In the context of today’s grueling 24-hour news cycle, gridlocked Senate, politically demoralized White House, and cynical election-year politics, the next attorney general will almost certainly be a “path of least resistance” nominee.

And to be fair, we don’t have an answer to the question “Who is the least dramatic, least controversial, least objectionable public servant who can allow the Obama administration to avoid another huge political hit?” Rather than regurgitating a list from the most recent press rumblings on that subject, we are suggesting that progressives raise a different one altogether:

Who SHOULD be the next attorney general?

Our country is facing untold and unprecedented crises of justice right now; President Obama should therefore nominate a person who would carry forward a vision for the United States that includes a robust embrace of civil rights, health-care access, social equity, and reparative justice. “Who clerked for whom?” is not as important a question as “Who cares for whom?” As names recur in pundit and media discussions, we should be examining those individuals’ lived experiences to uncover what their priorities are, whom they’re accountable to, and what values they’ll take into this appointment.

GetEQUAL is an LGBTQ group; as such, most of the conversation among many LGBTQ elites has focused on having an LGBTQ-identified person appointed for this position. While it may feel good to have a seat at the proverbial table, the truth is that we are much better positioned—as an LGBTQ community, as a progressive movement, and as Americans—when we refuse to get caught up in organizational appointments that rely on outdated identity politics. We will do better to examine how our leading public servants will challenge this country to make good on its promises of equal protection under the law.

As we mourn the continued loss of life under police brutality, as we fight back against un-American challenges to access the voting booth, as we struggle to provide for our families without the benefit of workplace protections, and as we stand up to record numbers of deportations that directly benefit private companies, we must search for an Attorney General whose allegiance is to marginalized communities, not to malicious conservatives or massive corporations.

Too often, those involved in political horse races create an illusion of mutual exclusivity between political realism and political idealism—and the American public falls into the trap of believing that we must have either one or the other. Today, we have the opportunity to demand an appointment for this office who would deliver more than simply the same old zero-sum game. But in order to do so, we must raise our collective expectations to reimagine a truly democratic office that benefits all of us, not simply a few.