Heading the US Department of "Justice" is, of course, Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Garland was the nominee of Obama for the seat on the SCOTUS bench vacated by the death of the infamous Antonin Scalia. When nominated, Garland was described as "a law and order pro choice Republican," even though Garland has long been a Democrat. Although many Presidents have filled seats on the SCOTUS bench despite being from a different party than their Senate majority, Obama was unable to pull it off.

Citing the "Biden rule," McConnell never brought Garland's nomination to a vote. The Biden Rule was articulated by Joe Biden, during the last year of the Presidency of Poppy Bush. Biden posited that, should a seat on the SCOTUS become vacant that year, it should not be filled until after the Presidential election.

As Biden apologists are quick to note, there was no nomination pending at the time, to which I respond, "That makes it even worse." IOW, Biden opened his yap to sound tough for no real reason, articulating a "rule" that McConnell later cited as his justification for stonewalling Obama's third Supreme Court nomination. Not smart, Joe. Then again, smart has never been Joe's strong suit.

Fun facts: During his tenure at Senate majority leader under Obama, Harry Reid used the "nuclear option" as to all federal judges except for Supreme Court Justices. So, the vote of only a "bare" majority of the Senate was needed to confirm judges. Nonetheless, Obama left over 100 seats on federal benches vacant. Reid could have included SCOTUS seats, but chose not to.

Taking it back two steps further, Democrats had won many House and Senate seats in 2006. which I interpret as a reaction to George W. Bush. Obama won the Presidency resoundingly in 2008, when Democrats added still more seats in the House and Senate. Had Obama's first two years not been so dreadful--had he enacted single payer, or even the strong public option he promised during his campaign, for example--I doubt Democrats would have experienced the historic losses they experienced in 2010. But then, Democrats would have had no excuse for the next six years.