The Senate confirmed William Barr to be the next attorney general of the United States in an 54-45 vote. Democrats had criticized Barr for a previous memo he wrote calling special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into possible obstruction of justice and collusion between President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia “fatally misconceived.” They also sought assurances from Barr, who will oversee Mueller’s probe, that he’d remain independent as the top law enforcement official in the nation.
This is Barr’s second stint as attorney general. He also served as attorney general under the presidency of George H.W. Bush.
Vote count
51 votes were necessary to confirm William Barr.
50 Yes | 50 No | |
|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 25 | 25 |
| Republicans | 25 | 25 |
TK did not vote
Majority rule
The TK senators voting “yes”, thereby confirming Barr as attorney general, represent TK percent of voting age Americans, or TK million people.
Key votes
Democrats Joe Manchin, Doug Jones and Kyrsten Sinema voted to confirm Barr and one Republican, Rand Paul, voted against Barr.
Party lines
Democrats 1 Yes1 No |
|---|
Republicans 1 Yes1 No |
|---|
TK did not vote
*Independents who caucus with Democrats
Populations statistics are from U.S. Census Bureau’s estimate of each state’s citizen voting age population. If two senators from the same state split their votes, each was approportioned half of their state’s population.
A previous version of this graphic incorrectly stated Senator Richard Burr (R- N.C.) voted to confirm William Barr. He did not vote.