Biden ‘should pick OBAMA as AG,’ paving the way for him to later ascend to Supreme Court, former White House lawyer says

A lawyer who worked under two Republican presidents is calling for Joe Biden to select Barack Obama as his attorney general to help "re-establish the rule of law" and boost his administration's credibility among estranged voters.

Appointing Obama as the nation's top law enforcement official would help reassure voters rattled by the polarized US political system that President-elect Biden will govern in the national interest, said Douglas Kmiec, who headed the Office of Legal Counsel under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

Kmiec, who also worked as US ambassador to Malta in the Obama administration, made his case for the former president becoming attorney general in an essay published on Friday by The Hill. Besides providing an "unusual solution" for healing a political system shaken by the controversy over Biden's election victory, he said, the AG post would be "perfect preparation" for the former president to subsequently become a Supreme Court justice.

But Kmiec's notion of Obama as a reassuring force across party lines was met with strong pushback. "Just when I was thinking the government couldn't be more corrupt in the Biden administration, there you go," one Twitter user said.

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Another commenter tweeted: "The 2020 year was horrific, and we can't take anymore. Searching for truth has become an onerous task, so no need for sensational suggestions. Just stop."

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Some observers also argued that Obama should be a target for prosecution, not the person in charge of federal prosecutors. "Nothing like the fox guarding the hen house," a California lawyer tweeted. Another commenter said, "He can be an inmate at Guantanamo Bay instead."

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But some Obama supporters were thrilled by the idea of making him AG. "Definition of Karma: US Attorney General Barack Obama," Twitter user Robert Ellingsworth said.