Republicans in the Senate are set to question A. G. Garland about the anti-Catholic memo, FACE law prosecutions, and more.

During his first speech before the 118th Congress, Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday will face questions from Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee related to an FBI memo that allegedly targets “radical traditionalist” Catholic ideology and the agency’s practice of targeting activists who speak for life, according to the FACE law. , according to Senate aides.

Committee Republicans can also ask Garland about the Justice Department’s new prosecution policy, which Republicans say is lenient, and the Prison Department’s recent policy on transgender inmates, which a committee aide says allows men to be placed with female inmates.

Earlier this month, Republican MPs from both houses put pressure on FBI Director Christopher Wray to respond to a leaked internal memo prepared by the FBI field office in Richmond, Virginia on January 23, 2023, which “identifies” a radical traditionalist Catholic[s]as potential “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.”

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After the memo was leaked, the FBI told Fox News Digital that “headquarters quickly began taking action to remove the document from the FBI’s systems and conduct background checks on the document.”

In addition, both the Justice Department and the FBI have come under scrutiny in recent months from Republicans and conservative activists who say the agencies are not acting impartially, with only two arrests made after dozens of attacks on pro-pregnancy women. centers following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Conversely, over the past year, the Justice Department has prosecuted more than 30 anti-abortion protesters.

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Just last week, the Justice Department indicted eight individuals under the Freedom of Access Clinic Entry Act or the FACE Act in an incident that took place outside a Michigan abortion clinic in 2020, adding to the Justice Department’s growing list of prosecutions in regarding abortion clinics. protesters.

While Garland has received several requests from Republicans on the committee to return to testify on these and other issues, his last appearance before the committee was in 2021.

Attorney General Merrick Garland. (Thassos Katopodis/Pool via hotspot)

During that hearing, he responded to questions about his memo to Justice Department officials about the federal response to violence and intimidation of school board officials, despite the National Association of School Boards apologizing for the letter that inspired the memo.

Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before Congress. (Greg Nash / pool photo via AP)

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The then senior committee member, Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the Justice Department memo had a “poisonous, deterrent effect” on speeches because it specifically addressed opposition to school board officials.

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Garland defended the memorandum, arguing that it was a response to “concerns about violence, threats of violence and other criminal acts.”

Ronn Blitzer and Kelly Lako of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.