On his first day as attorney general, Merrick Garland stood in the Great Hall at Main Justice and, invoking one of his role models, the first post-Watergate Attorney General Edward Levi, spoke of the need for career Justice Department officials to feel pride in the institution.

“For all of you and for me, public service is more than a job. It is a calling,” Garland said in an address to career employees. “All of you have chosen the Department of Justice over other places where you might have used your skills and where you might have earned a higher salary.”