The United States Attorney General (A.G.) is the head of the United States Department of Justice per 28 U.S.C. § 503, concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government. The attorney general serves as a member of the president's cabinet, and is the only cabinet department head who is not given the title secretary.
The attorney general is nominated by the President of the United States and takes office after confirmation by the United States Senate. He or she serves at the pleasure of the president and can be removed by the president at any time; the attorney general is also subject to impeachment by the House of Representatives and trial in the Senate for "treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors."
The office of Attorney General was established by Congress by the Judiciary Act of 1789. 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." Only in 1870 was the Department of Justice established to support the attorney general in the discharge of his responsibilities. The Attorney General, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Defense are generally regarded as the four most important cabinet officials because of the importance of their departments.
The current Attorney General, Loretta Lynch was nominated by President Obama after serving as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. She was confirmed by the Senate on April 23, 2015 and sworn in by Vice President Biden on April 27, 2015.
List of Attorneys General
- Parties
      No party       Federalist       Democratic-Republican       Democratic       Whig       Republican
- Status
1 Nicholas Katzenbach (1964â€"1965), Ramsey Clark (1966â€"1967) and William P. Barr (1991) served as acting attorney general in their capacity as deputy attorney general, until their own appointment as attorney general.
2 Richard L. Thornburgh (1977) and Eric Holder (2001) served as acting attorney general in their capacity as deputy attorney general, until the appointment of a new attorney general. Both subsequently served as attorney general, Thornburgh 1988â€"1991 and Holder 2009 to date.
3 On October 20, 1973 Solicitor General Robert Bork was instrumental in the "Saturday Night Massacre", U.S. President Richard Nixon's firing of Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, following Cox's request for tapes of his Oval Office conversations. Nixon initially ordered U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson, to fire Cox. Richardson resigned rather than carry out the order. Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus considered the order "fundamentally wrong" and also resigned, making Bork the acting attorney general. When Nixon reiterated his order, Bork complied and fired Cox. He remained acting attorney general until the appointment of William B. Saxbe on January 4, 1974.
4 Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Civil Division Stuart M. Gerson was acting attorney general from January 20, 1993 to March 12, 1993. Gerson was fourth in the line of succession at the Justice Department (other senior DOJ officials had already resigned). During his time as Acting AG, Gerson supported the Brady bill and was in office in the beginnings of the Waco siege. Janet Reno, President Clinton's nominee for attorney general, was confirmed on March 12, and he resigned the same day. Acting Attorney General Gerson's last day at the Justice Department was March 19.
5 On August 27, 2007, President Bush named Solicitor General Paul Clement as the future acting attorney general, to take office upon the resignation of Alberto Gonzales, effective September 17, 2007. According to administration officials, Clement took that office at 12:01Â am September 17, 2007, and left office 24 hours later. On September 17, President Bush announced that Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Civil Division Peter Keisler would become acting attorney general, pending a permanent appointment of a presidential nominee. Keisler served as acting attorney general until the nomination of Michael Mukasey on November 9, 2007.
6 Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip was asked to assume the position of acting attorney general by then President-elect Obama. Filip led the Department while President Obama's nominee, then Attorney-General Designate Eric Holder, awaited confirmation by the United States Senate. Holder was confirmed on February 2, 2009, and sworn in the next day thus ending Filip's tenure as the acting attorney general.
Living former Attorneys General
As of May 2015, there are nine living former US Attorneys General, the oldest being Ramsey Clark (1967-1969, born 1927). The most recent Attorney General to die was Nicholas Katzenbach (1965â€"1966), on May 8, 2012.
Attorney General in Politics
A confirmation vote for a nominated Attorney General is sometimes delayed in an attempt to gain political concessions. A recent example of this is the confirmation of Loretta Lynch which was put off by the Senate Majority Leader for 166 days.
See also
- Subpoena duces tecum
- Subpoena ad testificandum
- United States Deputy Attorney General
- United States Associate Attorney General
- United States Assistant Attorney General
- United States Solicitor General
- Living former members of the United States Cabinet
- List of Attorneys General of the Confederate States of America
- Executive Order 13557 for "Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice"
References
External links
- The Attorneys General of the United States
