Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Statement on the Planned Departure of Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta

The Justice Department issued the following statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on the planned departure of Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta at the start of February:

“I am deeply grateful to Vanita for her extraordinary service as Associate Attorney General. Vanita’s commitment to the pursuit of justice, and her relentless focus on bringing people together to find common ground, has made her an incredibly effective leader in dealing with some of the most complex challenges facing the American people. She has distinguished herself as the kind of leader who is also a partner to the career and non-career employees who work for her, to the stakeholders the Department works with, and to the public we all work for.

As a trusted advisor and key member of the Department’s leadership team charged with overseeing all of our civil litigating components and grantmaking entities, Vanita has played an essential role in our work to fulfill DOJ’s mission to uphold the rule of law, keep our country safe, and protect civil rights.  Among her many accomplishments during her tenure, Vanita stood up and has led the Department’s Reproductive Rights Taskforce to defend the reproductive freedoms that are protected by federal law. She has played an integral role in our efforts to combat violent crime and gun violence and to support the victims of crime. She has facilitated the Department’s efforts to advance a criminal justice system that keeps people safe and reflects our values. And across the components under her leadership — from the Antitrust Division to the Environment and Natural Resources Division — she has prioritized work that centers its impact on people.  

We at the Justice Department will dearly miss our colleague and friend, but I am confident that her enormous contributions to the Department will continue to be felt long after her departure.”