who is acting us attorney general

by Adolphus O'Keefe 4 min read

On September 2, 2020, Attorney General William P. Barr announced the designation of Antoinette T. Bacon as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 3345(a)(3).

Who is the new acting Attorney General?

Monty Wilkinson began serving as the Acting Attorney General of the United States on January 20th, 2021.

What are the qualifications for an US Attorney General?

The most common qualifications address minimum age, citizenship, residency, electoral status, and bar admission. Others prohibit the attorney general from holding multiple offices. Some states expressly prescribe these qualifications through their constitution or statute.

Does Attorney General have to be an attorney?

The Attorney General invariably has been, but is not legally required to be, a lawyer. The Constitution is silent as to his or her qualifications, and 28 U.S.C. 503 provides simply, “The President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an Attorney General of the United States.

Is an attorney general independent or political?

WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr said during his confirmation hearing in January that serving in his future post was “not the same” as representing President Trump and pledged to make law enforcement decisions based only on facts and the law — not politics.

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Who is the acting Attorney General of the United States?

General Merrick B. GarlandMeet the Attorney General Attorney General Merrick B. Garland was sworn in as the 86th Attorney General of the United States on March 11, 2021.

Who appoints the US attorney general?

The PresidentThe President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an Attorney General of the United States. The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice. (Added Pub. L.

Who is the current head of the DOJ?

Merrick GarlandThe current attorney general is Merrick Garland, who was sworn in on March 11, 2021....United States Department of Justice.The Robert F. Kennedy Building is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of JusticeAgency overviewFormedJuly 1, 1870TypeExecutive departmentJurisdictionU.S. federal government8 more rows

Are all U.S. Attorneys appointed by President?

United States Attorneys are appointed by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, and serve at the direction of the Attorney General.

How long is US Attorney term?

four yearsU.S. Attorneys are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and they serve terms of four years or at the President's discretion.

Is the FBI under the DOJ?

Within the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI is responsible to the attorney general, and it reports its findings to U.S. Attorneys across the country. The FBI's intelligence activities are overseen by the Director of National Intelligence.

Who is the former Attorney General?

California Former Attorneys GeneralMatthew Rodriguez2021 – 2021Kamala D. Harris2010 – 2017Edmund G. Brown, Jr.2007 – 2011Bill Lockyer1999 – 2007Daniel E. Lungren1991 – 199929 more rows

How long was Bill Barr Attorney General?

William Pelham Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney who served as the 77th and 85th United States attorney general in the administrations of Presidents George H. W. Bush and Donald Trump. New York City, U.S. From 1971 to 1977, Barr was employed by the Central Intelligence Agency.

What is the job of the Attorney General?

The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United Stateson all legal matters. The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States.

Who was the attorney general nominee for Clinton?

Gerson was fourth in the line of succession at the Justice Department, but other senior DOJ officials had already resigned.[14] Janet Reno, President Clinton's nominee for attorney general, was confirmed on March 12,[15]and he resigned the same day.

When does the Attorney General have to resign?

Presidential transition[edit] It is the practice for the attorney general, along with the other Cabinet secretaries and high-level political appointees of the President, to tender a resignation with effect on the Inauguration Day(January 20) of a new president.

Is "general" a noun?

The title "attorney general" is an example of a noun (attorney) followed by a postpositive adjective(general).[8]". General" is a description of the type of attorney, not a title or rank in itself (as it would be in the military).[8]

How many employees does Attorney General Garland have?

As the chief law enforcement officer for the United States and career public servant, Attorney General Garland leads the Department of Justice’s 115,000 employees dedicated to the fair and impartial administration of justice on behalf of the American people.

How long has Attorney General Garland been on the bench?

He served as Chief Judge from February 12, 2013 until February 11, 2020 and remained on the bench until his confirmation as Attorney General. In addition to being a published author in the Harvard Law Review and Yale Law Journal, Attorney General Garland has taught as a professor at Harvard Law School, served as the president of the Board ...

When did Garland return to the Department of Justice?

He returned to the Department of Justice as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1989 to 1992. After briefly returning to Arnold & Porter in 1992, Attorney General Garland continued his career in public service as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division.

Who was the acting attorney general for Mueller?

With the resignation of Sessions on November 7, 2018, Whitaker was appointed to serve as Acting Attorney General under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. In that position, he directly supervised Robert Mueller 's Special Counsel investigation, which had previously been supervised by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in his role as Acting Attorney General, due to the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

When did Whitaker become Attorney General?

During the months prior to joining the Justice Department as Jeff Sessions' chief of staff in September 2017, Whitaker made several statements critical of the Mueller investigation, of which he assumed oversight responsibility upon being appointed Acting Attorney General in November 2018.

Why did Whitaker join Trump's legal team?

Trump saw Whitaker's supportive commentaries on CNN in the summer of 2017, and in July White House counsel Don McGahn interviewed Whitaker to join Trump's legal team as an "attack dog" against Robert Mueller, who was heading the Special Counsel investigation. Trump associates believe Whitaker was later hired to limit the fallout of the investigation, including by reining in any Mueller report and preventing Trump from being subpoenaed. On November 13, a DOJ spokesperson said that Whitaker would seek advice from ethics officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) about whether a recusal from overseeing the Russia investigation was warranted.

What did Whitaker say about the courts?

Supreme Court's decision in Marbury v. Madison (1803), the decision that allows judicial review of the constitutionality of the acts of the other branches of government, and several other Supreme Court holdings. When Whitaker later became acting Attorney General four years later, Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe commented on Whita ker's views that "the overall picture he presents would have virtually no scholarly support", and that they would be "'destabilizing' to society if he used the power of the attorney general to advance them".

Who replaced Jody Hunt?

On September 22, 2017, a Justice Department official announced that Sessions was appointing Whitaker to replace Jody Hunt as his chief of staff. George J. Terwilliger III, a former U.S. attorney and deputy attorney general, said in his role as chief of staff, Whitaker would have dealt daily with making "substantive choices about what is important to bring to the AG".

Who is Doug Haning?

Lawyers for Doug Haning, a former agricultural products executive, filed a motion on November 13, 2018, asking a federal court in St. Louis to rule that Whitaker's appointment as acting Attorney General was illegal and thus he had no standing to hear the case.

Who was John Yoo?

Law professor John Yoo from Berkeley, who served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel in the George W. Bush administration, argued that the Appointments Clause renders the Federal Vacancies Reform Act unconstitutional and that Whitaker's appointment was in violation of that clause.

Who is the acting attorney general after Rosen leaves?

With Rosen leaving, Demers would normally be the acting attorney general. But Biden is relying on a Trump-era legal opinion that installed Matt Whitaker as acting attorney general after Trump fired Jeff Sessions.

Why did Trump want the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel?

CNN has reported that Trump wanted the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to look into his false allegations of vote fraud. Trump has also discussed having the department appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, son of incoming President Joe Biden.

Who is the Inspector General of the Justice Department?

On January 25, 2021, the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General, Michael E. Horowitz, launched "an investigation into whether any former or current DOJ official engaged in an improper attempt to have DOJ seek to alter the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election.".

Who is the administrator of the EPA?

The answer, it would seem, is ever since Lisa Jackson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Obama, chose to issue a rule determining that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger the public health and welfare. — Jeffrey Clark.

What did Clark tell Rosen and other top Justice Department officials?

Clark allegedly told Rosen and other top Justice Department officials that the Department should announce it was investigating serious election fraud issues; Rosen and his deputy Richard Donoghue rejected the suggestion, as the Department had previously determined and announced that there was no significant fraud.

When was Clark confirmed?

He was confirmed by the Senate on October 11, 2018. Within the division, Clark "developed a reputation for pushing aggressive conservative legal principles and taking a hands-on approach that drew kudos from some colleagues but often frustrated career lawyers on his team.".

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Overview

Presidential transition

It is the practice for the attorney general, along with the other Cabinet secretaries and high-level political appointees of the President, to tender a resignation with effect on the Inauguration Day (January 20) of a new president. The deputy attorney general is also expected to tender a resignation, but is commonly requested to stay on and act as the attorney general pending the confirmation by the Senate of the new attorney general.

History

Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789 which, among other things, established the Office of the Attorney General. The original duties of this officer were "to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which the United States shall be concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law when required by the president of the United States, or when requested by the heads of any of the departments". Some of these duties have since been transferred to the U…

Line of succession

U.S.C. Title 28, §508 establishes the first two positions in the line of succession, while allowing the attorney general to designate other high-ranking officers of the Department of Justice as subsequent successors. Furthermore, an Executive Order defines subsequent positions, the most recent from March 31, 2017, signed by President Donald Trump. The current line of succession is:
1. United States Deputy Attorney General

See also

• Executive Order 13787 for "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice"