A majority of senators voted to confirm William P. Barr Thursday as the U.S. attorney general, putting him in command of the Justice Department at one of the most politically charged moments in its history.

Though voting has not officially closed, Barr, a Justice Department veteran who served as attorney general previously in the George H.W. Bush administration, crossed the 51 votes he needed to win confirmation in what was shaping up to be a mostly party line vote. The outcome was unsurprising, after Barr cleared a procedural hurdle earlier this week by a 55-to-44 vote that also was mostly along party lines.

Only three Democrats have crossed the aisle to vote for Barr so far: Kyrsten Sinema, of Arizona, Doug Jones, of Alabama and Joe Manchin, of West Virginia.

Maine’s senators this week had announced their votes, with Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in favor and independent U.S. Sen. Angus King opposed.

Once Barr is officially confirmed, he will be thrust into supervising the special counsel probe into whether President Trump’s campaign worked with Russia to swing the 2016 election — and will be saddled with the political baggage that comes with it. Trump has attacked special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team relentlessly, deeming their investigation a “witch hunt” and vigorously disputing that he did anything wrong.

Barr, who has said he considers Mueller a friend, will oversee the probe at a particularly sensitive time, as it is widely presumed that Mueller is nearing the end of his work and lawmakers and the public are growing eager to learn his conclusions.

Advertisement

A person familiar with the matter said Barr, who has visited the Justice Department frequently in recent weeks, already has had preliminary discussions about the logistics surrounding Mueller’s endgame. The person stressed, though, that Barr has not been briefed on the substance of Mueller’s investigation and that the discussions about the logistics of its conclusion have been far from advanced.

Perhaps Barr’s most critical decision will be what — if anything — to tell Congress and the public about what Mueller tells him.

The special counsel regulations call for Mueller to provide the attorney general with a “confidential report” explaining who he did and did not decide to prosecute, and for Barr to notify Congress of the investigation’s end and of any steps Mueller wanted to take that were vetoed.

The regulations give Barr some latitude to release information publicly, though Barr noted at his confirmation hearing that under normal circumstances, prosecutors would not reveal information about those they choose not to charge. Irking some lawmakers, he declined to guarantee he would release Mueller’s findings in full, though he has vowed to be as transparent as possible.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the highest ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement Thursday that she considered Barr’s refusal to promise to release Mueller’s report “disqualifying.”

“While I opposed Bill Barr’s nomination, it’s my hope that he’ll remember he is the people’s lawyer, not the president’s lawyer,” Feinstein said.

Barr also is likely to soon select his own people to fill the upper ranks of the Justice Department. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein is expected to step down soon — though he has told people close to him that he is willing to stay on to ensure a smooth transition. His departure would leave the Justice Department’s No. 2 and No. 3 positions unfilled by Senate-confirmed leaders.

On Thursday, before Senators voted, Rosenstein was forced to again defend himself against allegations from former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe that he suggested wearing a wire to surreptitiously record President Trump, or having cabinet members invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him, early in Trump’s administration. Rosenstein has vaguely disputed those allegations — and Trump has seemed to side with him over McCabe — though McCabe is set to release a new book next week, and his interviews to promote it could cause new headaches for Rosenstein.

A person familiar with the matter said Barr has all but identified a possible replacement for Rosenstein and is also contemplating who might fill the No. 3 spot. The president nominates people for each spot, though people familiar with the matter have said Barr was assured he would be able to select his own deputy. The nominations could be announced in the coming weeks, according a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues.