Senate confirms Gupta nomination in tight vote
By Harper Neidig - 04/21/21 03:10 PM EDT
The Senate on Wednesday narrowly voted to confirm Vanita Gupta, President Biden's nominee for the No. 3 position at the Department of Justice (DOJ), despite stiff opposition from Republicans who had criticized her civil rights advocacy during the Trump administration.
Just one Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), voted in favor of Gupta.
As associate attorney general, Gupta will oversee the DOJ's efforts on civil litigation and law enforcement issues.
That portfolio will likely include the federal civil rights investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department, which Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday, one day after a jury convicted former officer Derek Chauvin on murder charges in the death of George Floyd.
Gupta had served under former President Obama as the head of the DOJ's civil rights division, where she directed a similar investigation into police in Ferguson, Mo., following the 2014 killing of Michael Brown by a white officer.
