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United States Assistant Attorney General

Government official rank in the Department of Justice

United States Assistant Attorney General
Summary

Government official rank in the Department of Justice

Flag of a U.S. assistant attorney general.<br/>Motto in English: For The Lady Who Pursues Justice.

Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are headed by an assistant attorney general.

The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and consent of the Senate. United States Department of Justice components that are led by an assistant attorney general are:

  • Antitrust Division
  • Civil Division
  • Civil Rights Division
  • Criminal Division
  • Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD)
  • Justice Management Division (JMD)
  • National Security Division
  • Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
  • Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA)
  • Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)
  • Office of Legal Policy (OLP)
  • Tax Division

Assistant attorneys general report either to the deputy attorney general (in the case of the Criminal Division, the Justice Management Division and the Offices of Legal Counsel, Legislative Affairs, and Legal Policy) or to the associate attorney general (in the case of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions and the Office of Justice Programs).

List of U.S. assistant attorneys general

Assistant Attorney General

NameYears of serviceAppointed by President
Titian J. Coffey1880–1884Chester A. Arthur
Zachariah Montgomery1885–1889Grover Cleveland
John C. Chaney1889–1893Benjamin Harrison
William Arden Maury1889–1893
Holmes Conrad1893–1895Grover Cleveland
Joshua Eric Dodge1893–1897
Edward Baldwin Whitney1895–1897
James Edmund Boyd1897–1900William McKinley
James M. Beck1900–1903
James Clark McReynolds1903–1907Theodore Roosevelt
Edward Terry Sanford1907–1908
James Alexander Fowler1908–1911
William H. Lewis1911William Taft
Ernest Knaebel1912–1916
William L. Frierson1917–1920Woodrow Wilson
Annette Abbott Adams1920–1921
Mabel Walker Willebrandt1921–1929Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge
Roger Wilkins1966–1969Lyndon Johnson
Wesley Pomeroy1968–1969Richard Nixon

Antitrust Division

NameYears of serviceAppointed by
William Joseph Donovan1926–1927Calvin Coolidge
John Lord O'Brian1929–1933Herbert Hoover
Robert H. Jackson1937–1938Franklin D. Roosevelt
Thurman Arnold1938–1943
Wendell Berge1943–1947
John F. Sonnett1947–1948Harry S. Truman
Herbert Bergson1948–1950
Leonard Bessman1950–1951
H. Graham Morison1951–1952
Newell A. Clapp1952–1953acting
Stanley Barnes1953–1956Eisenhower
Victor R. Hansen1956–1959
Robert A. Bicks1959–1961
Lee Loevinger1961–1963Kennedy
William Horsley Orrick, Jr.1963–1965
Donald F. Turner1965–1968Lyndon Johnson
Edwin Zimmerman1968–1969
Richard W. McLaren1969–1972Richard Nixon
Walker B. Comegys1972acting
Thomas E. Kauper1972–1976Richard Nixon
Donald I. Baker1976–1977Gerald R. Ford
John H. Shenefield1977–1979Jimmy Carter
Sanford Litvack1979–1981
William Baxter (law professor)William Baxter1981–1983Ronald Reagan
J. Paul McGrath1983–1985
Douglas H. Ginsburg1985–1986
Charles Rule1986–1989
James F. Rill1989–1992George H.W. Bush
Charles James1992acting
J. Mark Gidley1992–1993acting
Anne Bingaman1993–1996Bill Clinton
Joel Klein1996–2000
Douglas Melamed2000–2001acting
Charles James (attorney)Charles James2001–2003George W. Bush
R. Hewitt Pate2003–2005
Thomas O. Barnett2005–2008
Deborah A. Garza2008–2009acting
Christine A. Varney2009–2011Barack Obama
Sharis Pozen2011–2012acting
Joseph F. Wayland2012acting
Renata Hesse2012–2013acting
William Baer2013–2017Barack Obama
Makan Delrahim2017–2021Donald Trump
Jonathan Kanter2021–2024Joe Biden
Doha Mekki2024–2025acting
Gail Slater2025–Donald Trump

Civil Division

#NameTerm beganTerm endedPresident(s) served under
1Charles B. Rugg19301933Herbert Hoover
2George Clinton Sweeney19331935Franklin D. Roosevelt
3Angus D. MacLean1935
4James W. Morris19351937
5Sam E. Whitaker19371939
6Francis M. Shea19391945
7John F. Sonnett19451947Harry S. Truman
8Peyton Ford19471949
9H. Graham Morison19491951
10Holmes Baldridge19511953
11Warren E. Burger19531956Dwight D. Eisenhower
12George Cochran Doub19531960
13William H. Orrick Jr.19611963John F. Kennedy
14John W. Douglas19631966John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
15Barefoot Sanders19661967Lyndon B. Johnson
16Edwin L. Weisl Jr.19671969
17William Ruckelshaus19691970Richard Nixon
18L. Patrick Gray19701972
19Harlington Wood Jr.19721973
20Carla Anderson Hills19731975
21Rex E. Lee19751977Gerald Ford
22Barbara A. Babcock19771979Jimmy Carter
23Alice Daniels19791981
24Paul J. McGrath19811985Ronald Reagan
25Richard K. Willard19851988
26John Bolton19881989
27Stuart M. Gerson19891993George H. W. Bush
28Frank W. Hunger19931999Bill Clinton
29David W. Ogden19992001
30Robert McCallum Jr.20012003George W. Bush
31Peter Keisler20032007
32Gregory G. Katsas20082009
33Tony West20092012Barack Obama
34Stuart F. Delery20122014
-Benjamin C. Mizer (acting)20142017
-Chad Readler (acting)20172018Donald Trump
35Jody Hunt20182020
-Ethan P. Davis (acting)20202020
-Jeffrey Clark (acting)20202021
-Brian Boynton (acting)20212025Joe Biden
-Brett Shumate (acting)20252025Donald Trump
-Yaakov M. Roth (interim)2025Present
Source:

Civil Rights Division

Main article: United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division

  • Harmeet Dhillon (Assuming office 2025)
  • Mac Warner (Acting 2025–present)
  • Kristen Clarke (2021–2025)
  • Eric Dreiband (2018–2021)
  • John M. Gore (Acting 2017–2018)
  • Thomas E. Wheeler II (Acting 2017)
  • Vanita Gupta (Acting 2014–2017)
  • Molly J. Moran (Acting 2014)
  • Jocelyn Samuels (Acting 2013–2014)
  • Thomas Perez, (2009–2013)
  • Grace Chung Becker (Acting 2008)
  • Wan J. Kim, (2005–2007)
  • R. Alexander Acosta (2003–2005)
  • Bradley Schlozman (Acting 2003)
  • Ralph F. Boyd Jr. (2001–2003)
  • William R. Yeomans (Acting 2001)
  • Bill Lann Lee (1997–2001)
  • Deval Patrick, (1994–1997)
  • James P. Turner (Acting 1993–94)
  • John R. Dunne(1990–1993)
  • James P. Turner (Acting 1989–1990)
  • William C. Lucas (Acting 1988–1989)
  • William Bradford Reynolds (1981–1988)
  • Drew S. Days, III (1977–1980)
  • J. Stanley Pottinger (1973–1977)
  • David Luke Norman (1971–1973)
  • Jerris Leonard (1969–1971)
  • Stephen J. Pollak (1968–1969)
  • John Michael Doar (1965 to 1967)
  • Burke Marshall (1961–1964)
  • Harold R. Tyler (1960–1961)
  • W. Wilson White (1957–1960)

Criminal Division

Main article: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

  • Kenneth Polite (2021–2023)
  • Brian Benczkowski (2018–2020)
  • Leslie Caldwell (2014–2017)
  • Lanny Breuer (2009–2013)
  • Alice Fisher (2005–2008)
  • Christopher A. Wray (2003–2005)
  • Michael Chertoff (2001–2003)
  • James Robinson (1998–2001)
  • Jo Ann Harris (1993–1995)
  • Robert Mueller (1990–1993)
  • Edward S.G. Dennis (1988–1990)
  • William Weld (1986–1988)
  • Stephen S. Trott (1983–1986)
  • D. Lowell Jensen (1981–1983)
  • Philip Heymann (1978–1981)
  • Benjamin Civiletti (1977–1978)
  • Dick Thornburgh (1975–1977)
  • Henry E. Petersen (1972–1974)
  • Will Wilson (1969–1971)
  • Fred Vinson Jr. (1965–1969)
  • Herbert Miller Jr. (1961–1965)
  • Malcolm R. Wilkey (1959–1961)
  • Malcolm Anderson (1958–1959)
  • Warren Olney III (1953–1957)
  • Charles B. Murray (1952–1953)
  • James M. McInerney (1950–1952)
  • Alexander M. Campbell (1948–1949)
  • T. Vincent Quinn (1947–1948)
  • Theron Caudle (1945–1947)
  • Tom C. Clark (1943–1945)
  • Wendell Berge (1940–1943)
  • O. John Rogge (1939–1940)
  • Brien McMahon (1936–1939)
  • Joseph B. Keenan (1934–1936)
  • Pat Malloy (1933)
  • E. Nugent Dodds (1931–1933)
  • Oscar R. Luhring (1925–1930)
  • William J. Donovan (1924–1925)
  • Earl J. Davis (1924)
  • John Crim (1921–1923)
  • Robert P. Stewart (1919–1921)

National Security Division

NamePresident(s)AnnouncementNomination sent
to the SenateConfirmation
by the SenateSworn inLeft office
Kenneth L. WainsteinGeorge W. BushMarch 13, 2006September 21, 2006September 28, 2006March 30, 2008, to become Homeland Security Advisor (Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism)
J. Patrick RowanJune 19, 2008url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/results/leadership/bio_1382.htmlvia=National Archiveswork=whitehouse.govtitle=results.gov : Resources For The President's Team}}October 3, 2008url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the_press_office/NominationPressRelease-AssistantAttorneyGeneral/work=whitehouse.govtitle=Nomination Press Release – Assistant Attorney General – The White Housedate=February 11, 2009via=National Archivesaccess-date=2013-11-27}}
David S. KrisBarack ObamaJanuary 22, 2009February 11, 2009March 25, 2009––
Lisa MonacoMarch 17, 2011June 28, 2011July 1, 2011March 8, 2013
John DemersDonald Trump, Joe BidenSeptember 2, 2017September 5, 2017February 15, 2018February 22, 2018June 21, 2021
Matthew G. OlsenJoe BidenMay 26, 2021May 27, 2021October 28, 2021November 1, 2021January 20, 2025

Environment and Natural Resources Division

  • Ernest Knaebel (1911–1916)
  • Ramsey Clark (1961–1965)
  • Jeffrey Clark (2018–2021)
  • Todd Kim (2021–2025)

Justice Management Division

  • Jolene Ann Lauria

Tax Division

  • Robert H. Jackson (1936–1938)
  • Mabel Walker Willebrandt (1921–1929)

Office of Justice Programs

  • Jimmy Gurulé (1990–1992)
  • Laurie O. Robinson
NameYears servedAppointed byNotes
Angus D. MacLean1933–1935Franklin D. Roosevelt
Golden W. Bell1935–1939
Charles Fahy1940–1941
Oscar S. Cox1942–1943
Hugh B. Cox1943–1945
Harold W. Judson1945–1946
George T. Washington1946–1949Harry Truman
Abraham J. Harris1950–1951
Joseph C. Duggan1951–1952
J. Lee Rankin1953–1956Dwight EisenhowerBecame Solicitor General in 1956.
W. Wilson White1957After a short tenure, selected to be first head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
Malcolm R. Wilkey1958–1959
Robert Kramer1959–1961
Nicholas Katzenbach1961–1962John F. Kennedy
Norbert A. Schlei1962–1966
Frank H. Wozencraft1966–1969Lyndon Johnson
William H. Rehnquist1969–1971Richard NixonLater nominated and confirmed as Associate, and subsequent Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ralph E. Erickson1971–1972
Roger C. Cramton1972–1973
Antonin Scalia1974–1977Gerald FordLater nominated and confirmed as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
John M. Harmon1977–1981url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207024309/http://www.gdhm.com/people_and_practices/bios/?ID=23date=2008-12-07 }}, Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody.
Theodore B. Olson1981–1984Ronald ReaganLater became U.S. Solicitor General.
Charles J. Cooper1985–1988
Douglas Kmiec1988–1989Later U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Malta during the "Arab Spring" uprisings.
William P. Barr1989–1990George H. W. Bush
Michael Luttig1990–1991
Timothy Flanigan1991–1992
Walter Dellinger1993–1994Bill ClintonLater became acting U.S. Solicitor General.
Beth Nolan1995acting
Dawn Johnsen1996–1998acting
Randolph D. Moss1998–2001Bill ClintonServed as acting AAG from 1998 to 2000; nominated November 9, 1999; Recess-appointed August 3, 2000; confirmed by United States Senate December 15, 2000
Jay S. Bybee2001 – March 2003George W. BushIn charge when the OLC issued the Bybee memo and other Torture memos; appointed as a federal judge; started March 21, 2003
Jack GoldsmithOctober 2003 – June 2004Later Professor at Harvard Law School and author of The Terror Presidency (2007)
Daniel Levin2004–2005acting
Steven G. Bradbury2005–2009actingServed as acting AAG 2005–2007 (nominated June 23, 2005; nomination approved by Senate Judiciary Committee but never voted on by full Senate), continued to function as senior appointed official in charge of OLC until January 20, 2009.
David J. Barron2009–2010Professor at Harvard Law School and served as Acting AAG from January 2009 to July 2010.
Jonathan G. Cedarbaum2010–2011Served as acting AAG, July–November 2010; continued to function as senior appointed official in charge of OLC until the end of January 2011.
Caroline D. Krass2011Senior appointed official leading OLC since the end of January 2011 until June 2011, when Virginia A. Seitz was confirmed.
Virginia A. Seitz2011–2013Barack ObamaConfirmed by the Senate in a voice vote on June 28, 2011. Resigned effective December 20, 2013.
Karl R. Thompson2014–2017actingAppointed Principal Deputy AAG on March 24, 2014.
Curtis E. Gannon2017url=https://www.justice.gov/olc/meet-leadershiptitle=Meet the Leadershipauthor=date=20 January 2017website=justice.govpublisher=United States Department of Justiceaccess-date=2017-06-04 }}
Steven Engel2017–2021Donald Trump
Christopher H. Schroeder2021–2023Joe Biden
Benjamin C. Mizer2023acting
Gillian E. Metzger2023–2024
Christopher Fonzone2024–2025Joe Biden
Henry C. Whitaker2025-presentDonald Trump
  • Viet D. Dinh (2001–2003)
  • Daniel J. Bryant (2003–2005)
  • Rachel Brand (2005–2007)
  • Elisebeth C. Cook (2008–2009)
  • Christopher H. Schroeder (2010–2012)
  • Beth Ann Williams (2017–2020)
  • Hampton Dellinger (2021–present)

Office of Legislative Affairs

  • Carlos Uriarte (August 2022 - January 2025)
  • Peter Hyun (November 2021 – August 2022; acting)
  • Helaine Greenfeld (January 2021 – November 2021; acting}
  • Stephen Boyd (August 2017 – January 2021)
  • Peter J. Kadzik (June 2014 – January 2017)
  • Judith C. Appelbaum (June 13, 2012–?)
  • Ronald H. Weich (April 29, 2009 – April 25, 2012)
  • Richard Hertling (2003–2007)
  • Daniel J. Bryant (2001–2003)
  • Robert Raben (1999–2001)
  • Jon Jennings Acting (1998–1999)
  • L. Anthony Sutin (1998)
  • John R. Bolton (1985–1989)
  • Robert A. McConnell (1981–1985)
  • Patricia Wald (1977–1979)
  • Michael Uhlmann (1975–1977)
  • Mitch McConnell (1975, acting)
  • W. Vincent Rakestraw (March 3, 1974 – February 1, 1975)
  • Mike McKevitt (1973)

References

References

  1. {{usc. 28. 506
  2. United States Department of Justice. (November 8, 2013). "FEDERAL ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL". justice.gov.
  3. (2014-10-15). "Attorney General Holder Announces Vanita Gupta to Serve as Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division | OPA | Department of Justice". Justice.gov.
  4. "James P. Turner, Used and Abused: The Civil Rights Division, Washington Post, Sunday, December 14, 1997; Page C01".
  5. "The Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division: A Historical Perspective as the Division Nears 50, Remarks by Wan Kim, Mar. 22, 2006".
  6. "Presidential Nomination: Kenneth Leonard Wainstein". [[whitehouse.gov]].
  7. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090302113143/http://fdsys.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/WCPD-2006-09-25/pdf/WCPD-2006-09-25-Pg1658-2.pdf Wayback Machine]
  8. "#06-655: 09-28-06 Kenneth L. Wainstein Sworn in as First Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division".
  9. "Ken Wainstein, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism". [[whitehouse.gov]].
  10. "Personnel Announcement". [[whitehouse.gov]].
  11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081014040231/http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200809/092608e.html Statement Of Sen. Leahy On Nomination Of J. Patrick Rowan]
  12. "results.gov : Resources For The President's Team". [[whitehouse.gov]].
  13. (December 2016)
  14. (February 11, 2009). "Nomination Press Release – Assistant Attorney General – The White House". [[whitehouse.gov]].
  15. Lichtblau, Eric. (January 22, 2009). "Obama Picks Critic of Warrantless Wiretapping for Slot at Justice Dept". The New York Times.
  16. "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 111th Congress – 1st Session".
  17. "Lisa Monaco Nominated To Lead DOJ National Security Division".
  18. (June 29, 2011). "3 Justice Dept. Nominees Are Confirmed". The New York Times.
  19. "Meet the Assistant Attorney General".
  20. (2015-04-13). "Ernest Knaebel".
  21. (2009-11-09). "Office of Justice Programs: Laurie O. Robinson, Acting Assistant Attorney General/Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General". Ojp.usdoj.gov.
  22. [https://books.google.com/books?id=xpy0AAAAIAAJ ''Register, Department of Justice and the Courts of the United States''], [[United States Government Printing Office]] (1972–1976), p. 131. "Office of Legal Counsel (Formerly Office of Assistant Solicitor General and Executive Adjudications Division," list of officeholders through 1973.
  23. link. (2008-12-07 , Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody.)
  24. [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cdirectory/browse.html Congressional Directory] {{Webarchive. link. (August 12, 2011 , GPO Online, Dept. of Justice Header.)
  25. "National Law Journal".
  26. (January 11, 2018). "Meet the Assistant Attorney General – OLC – Department of Justice".
  27. . (20 January 2017). ["Meet the Leadership"](https://www.justice.gov/olc/meet-leadership). *United States Department of Justice*.
  28. (May 22, 1975). "White House Press Release".
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