United States Attorney General

The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all legal matters. The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States.

United States Attorney General
Seal of the Department of Justice
Flag of the United States attorney general
Incumbent Merrick Garland since March 11, 2021
United States Department of Justice
Style	Mr. Attorney General (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Member of	Cabinet National Security Council Homeland Security Council
Reports to	President
Seat	Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building Washington, D.C.
Appointer	President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	28 U.S.C. § 503
Formation	September 26, 1789
First holder	Edmund Randolph
Succession	Seventh[1]
Deputy	Deputy Attorney General
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level I[2]
Website	www.justice.gov/ag

Under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution, the officeholder is nominated by the president of the United States, then appointed with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The attorney general is supported by the Office of the Attorney General, which includes executive staff and several deputies.

Merrick Garland has been the United States attorney general since March 11, 2021.^[3][4]

On November 21, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump named former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his nominee to run the Justice Department.^[5]

Name

The title, "attorney general" is an example of a noun (attorney) followed by a postpositive adjective (general).^[6] "General" is a description of the type of attorney, not a title or rank in itself (as it would be in the military).^[6] Even though the attorney general (and the similarly titled solicitor general) is occasionally referred to as "General" or "General [last name]" by senior government officials, this is considered incorrect in standard American English usage.^[6][7] For the same reason, the correct American English plural form is "attorneys general" rather than "attorney generals".^[7]

History

See also: United States Department of Justice § History

Seal of the Department of Justice

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".^[8] Some of these duties have since been transferred to the United States solicitor general and the White House counsel.

The Department of Justice was established in 1870 to support the attorneys general in the discharge of their responsibilities.

The secretary of state, the secretary of the treasury, the secretary of defense, and the attorney general are regarded as the four most important Cabinet officials in the United States because of the size and importance of their respective departments.^[9]

Attorney General is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule,^[2] thus earning a salary of US$221,400, as of January 2021.^[10]

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.

For example, upon the inauguration of President Donald Trump on January 20, 2017, then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch left her position, so then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who had also tendered her resignation, was asked to stay on to serve as the acting attorney general until the confirmation of the new attorney general Jeff Sessions, who had been nominated for the office in November 2016 by then-President-elect Donald Trump.^[11][a]

List of attorneys general

Flag of the United States attorney general

Parties

  Federalist (4)   Democratic-Republican (5)   Democratic (34)   Whig (4)   Republican (40)

Status

  Denotes service as acting attorneys general before appointment or after resignation

No.	Portrait	Name	Prior experience	State of residence	Took office	Left office	President(s)
1		Edmund Randolph	Lawyer, 7th Governor of Virginia	Virginia	September 26, 1789	January 26, 1794		George Washington
2		William Bradford	Lawyer, judge, Attorney General of Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania	January 27, 1794	August 23, 1795
3		Charles Lee	Lawyer, Acting United States Secretary of State	Virginia	December 10, 1795	February 19, 1801
								John Adams
4		Levi Lincoln Sr.	Lawyer, Acting United States Secretary of State, 7th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 4th district	Massachusetts	March 5, 1801	March 2, 1805		Thomas Jefferson
5		John Breckinridge	Lawyer, United States Senator from Kentucky, Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Attorney General of Kentucky	Kentucky	August 7, 1805	December 14, 1806
6		Caesar Augustus Rodney	Lawyer, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Delaware's at-large district, Member of Delaware General Assembly	Delaware	January 20, 1807	December 10, 1811
								James Madison
7		William Pinkney	Lawyer, United States Minister to the United Kingdom, 3rd Attorney General of Maryland, Mayor of Annapolis, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 3rd district	Maryland	December 11, 1811	February 9, 1814
8		Richard Rush	Lawyer, Attorney General of Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania	February 10, 1814	November 12, 1817
9		William Wirt	Lawyer, United States Attorney for the District of Virginia, Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Richmond City 6th Clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates	Virginia	November 13, 1817	March 4, 1829		James Monroe
								John Quincy Adams
10		John Macpherson Berrien	Lawyer, Judge of the Eastern judicial circuit of Georgia, United States Senator from Georgia	Georgia	March 9, 1829	July 19, 1831		Andrew Jackson
11		Roger B. Taney	Lawyer, Acting United States Secretary of War, Attorney General of Maryland	Maryland	July 20, 1831	November 14, 1833
12		Benjamin Franklin Butler	Lawyer, Member of the New York State Assembly from Albany County, District Attorney of Albany County	New York	November 15, 1833	July 4, 1838
								Martin Van Buren
13		Felix Grundy	Lawyer, United States Senator from Tennessee, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 3rd district and 5th district, Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals	Tennessee	July 5, 1838	January 10, 1840
14		Henry D. Gilpin	Lawyer, Solicitor of the United States Treasury, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania	January 11, 1840	March 4, 1841
15		John J. Crittenden 1st term	Lawyer, 22nd Secretary of State of Kentucky, United States Senator from Kentucky	Kentucky	March 5, 1841	September 12, 1841		William Henry Harrison
								John Tyler
16		Hugh S. Legaré	Lawyer, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 1st district Acting United States Minister to Belgium, 7th Attorney General of South Carolina	South Carolina	September 13, 1841	June 20, 1843
17		John Nelson	Lawyer, United States Chargé d'Affaires to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 4th district	Maryland	July 1, 1843	March 4, 1845
18		John Y. Mason	Lawyer, 16th United States Secretary of the Navy Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 2nd district	Virginia	March 5, 1845	October 16, 1846		James K. Polk
19		Nathan Clifford	Lawyer, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 1st district, Attorney General of Maine, Member of the Maine House of Representatives,	Maine	October 17, 1846	March 17, 1848
20		Isaac Toucey	Lawyer, 33rd Governor of Connecticut, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's at-large district and 1st district	Connecticut	June 21, 1848	March 4, 1849
21		Reverdy Johnson	Lawyer, United States Senator from Maryland	Maryland	March 8, 1849	July 21, 1850		Zachary Taylor
22		John J. Crittenden 2nd term	Lawyer, 15th United States Attorney General (1841) 22nd Secretary of State of Kentucky, United States Senator from Kentucky	Kentucky	July 22, 1850	March 4, 1853		Millard Fillmore
23		Caleb Cushing	Lawyer, United States Minister to China, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 3rd district	Massachusetts	March 7, 1853	March 4, 1857		Franklin Pierce
24		Jeremiah S. Black	Lawyer, Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court	Pennsylvania	March 6, 1857	December 16, 1860		James Buchanan
25		Edwin Stanton	Lawyer	Pennsylvania	December 20, 1860	March 4, 1861
26		Edward Bates	Lawyer, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's at-large district, Attorney General of Missouri	Missouri	March 5, 1861	November 24, 1864		Abraham Lincoln
27		James Speed	Lawyer, Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives	Kentucky	December 2, 1864	July 22, 1866
								Andrew Johnson
28		Henry Stanbery	Lawyer, Attorney General of Ohio	Ohio	July 23, 1866	July 16, 1868
29		William M. Evarts	Lawyer	New York	July 17, 1868	March 4, 1869
30		Ebenezer R. Hoar	Lawyer, judge	Massachusetts	March 5, 1869	November 22, 1870		Ulysses S. Grant
31		Amos T. Akerman	Lawyer, teacher	Georgia	November 23, 1870	December 13, 1871
32		George Henry Williams	United States Senator from Oregon 3rd Chief Justice of Oregon Supreme Court	Oregon	December 14, 1871	April 25, 1875
33		Edwards Pierrepont	Attorney U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York	New York	April 26, 1875	May 21, 1876
34		Alphonso Taft	31st United States Secretary of War	Ohio	May 22, 1876	March 4, 1877
35		Charles Devens	Judge of Massachusetts superior court	Massachusetts	March 12, 1877	March 4, 1881		Rutherford B. Hayes
36		Wayne MacVeagh	Lawyer, United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire	Pennsylvania	March 5, 1881	December 15, 1881		James A. Garfield
								Chester A. Arthur
37		Benjamin H. Brewster	Attorney General of Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania	December 16, 1881	March 4, 1885
38		Augustus Garland	Lawyer, United States Senator from Arkansas, 11th Governor of Arkansas	Arkansas	March 6, 1885	March 4, 1889		Grover Cleveland
39		William H. H. Miller	Lawyer	Indiana	March 7, 1889	March 4, 1893		Benjamin Harrison
40		Richard Olney	Lawyer	Massachusetts	March 6, 1893	April 7, 1895		Grover Cleveland
41		Judson Harmon	Lawyer	Ohio	April 8, 1895	March 4, 1897
42		Joseph McKenna	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 3rd district	California	March 5, 1897	January 25, 1898		William McKinley
43		John W. Griggs	Lawyer, 28th Governor of New Jersey	New Jersey	January 25, 1898	March 29, 1901
44		Philander C. Knox	Lawyer, Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania (1876–1877), President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association	Pennsylvania	April 5, 1901	June 30, 1904
								Theodore Roosevelt
45		William Henry Moody	35th United States Secretary of the Navy, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 6th district	Massachusetts	July 1, 1904	December 17, 1906
46		Charles Bonaparte	Lawyer, 37th United States Secretary of the Navy	Maryland	December 17, 1906	March 4, 1909
47		George W. Wickersham	Lawyer	New York	March 4, 1909	March 4, 1913		William Howard Taft
48		James C. McReynolds	Lawyer United States Assistant Attorney General (1903-1907)	Tennessee	March 5, 1913	August 29, 1914		Woodrow Wilson
49		Thomas Watt Gregory	Lawyer	Texas	August 29, 1914	March 4, 1919
50		A. Mitchell Palmer	Attorney, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 26th district	Pennsylvania	March 5, 1919	March 4, 1921
51		Harry M. Daugherty	Lawyer Member of the Ohio House of Representatives (1889−1893) Republican Political Operative from Ohio	Ohio	March 4, 1921	April 6, 1924		Warren G. Harding
								Calvin Coolidge
52		Harlan F. Stone	Lawyer Dean of Columbia Law School (1910-1923)	New York	April 7, 1924	March 1, 1925
53		John G. Sargent	Lawyer, Attorney General of Vermont	Vermont	March 7, 1925	March 4, 1929
54		William D. Mitchell	Attorney, 18th United States Solicitor General	Minnesota	March 4, 1929	March 4, 1933		Herbert Hoover
55		Homer Stille Cummings	Mayor of Stamford, Connecticut (1904–1906), State Attorney of Fairfield County (1914–1924), Chair of the Democratic National Committee (1919–1920)	Connecticut	March 4, 1933	January 1, 1939		Franklin D. Roosevelt
56		Frank Murphy	Governor-General of the Philippines (1933–1935), 1st High Commissioner to the Philippines (1935–1936), 35th Governor of Michigan (1937–1939)	Michigan	January 2, 1939	January 18, 1940
57		Robert H. Jackson	Lawyer, United States Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division (1936–1937), United States Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division (1937–1938), 24th United States Solicitor General (1938–1940)	New York	January 18, 1940	August 25, 1941
58		Francis Biddle		Pennsylvania	August 26, 1941	June 26, 1945
			Lawyer, Deputy Chair of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Pennsylvania (1938–1939), Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (1939–1940), 25th United States Solicitor General (1940–1941)					Harry S. Truman
59		Tom C. Clark	Lawyer, United States Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division (1943–1945)	Texas	June 27, 1945	July 26, 1949
60		J. Howard McGrath	Lawyer, 60th Governor of Rhode Island (1941–1945), 27th United States Solicitor General (1945–1946), Chair of the Democratic National Committee (1947–1949), United States Senator from Rhode Island (1947–1949)	Rhode Island	July 27, 1949	April 3, 1952
61		James P. McGranery	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 2nd district (1937–1943), Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (1946–1952)	Pennsylvania	April 4, 1952	January 20, 1953
62		Herbert Brownell Jr.	Member of the New York State Assembly from the 10th district (1933–1937), Chair of the Republican National Committee (1944–1946)	New York	January 21, 1953	October 23, 1957		Dwight D. Eisenhower
63		William P. Rogers	Attorney, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (1953–1957)	New York	October 23, 1957	January 20, 1961
64		Robert F. Kennedy	Lawyer, Chief counsel, Senate Committee on Labor Rackets (1957–1959)	Massachusetts	January 20, 1961	September 3, 1964		John F. Kennedy
								Lyndon B. Johnson
65		Nicholas Katzenbach		Illinois	September 4, 1964[b]	January 28, 1965
			Lawyer, 7th United States Deputy Attorney General (1962–1965)		January 28, 1965	November 28, 1966
66		Ramsey Clark		Texas	November 28, 1966[b]	March 10, 1967
			United States Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division (1961–1965), 8th United States Deputy Attorney General (1965–1967)		March 10, 1967	January 20, 1969
67		John N. Mitchell	Lawyer	New York	January 20, 1969	February 15, 1972		Richard Nixon
68		Richard Kleindienst	Lawyer, 10th United States Deputy Attorney General (1969–1972)	Arizona	February 15, 1972	April 30, 1973[13]
69		Elliot Richardson	Lawyer, 37th Attorney General of Massachusetts (1967–1969), 25th United States Under Secretary of State (1969–1970), 9th United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (1970–1973), 11th United States Secretary of Defense (Jan–May 1973)	Massachusetts	May 25, 1973[13]	October 20, 1973
–		Robert Bork[c] Acting	33rd Solicitor General of the United States (1973–1977)	Pennsylvania	October 20, 1973	January 4, 1974
70		William B. Saxbe	U.S. Senator from Ohio	Ohio	January 4, 1974	February 2, 1975
			Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives (1953–1955), Ohio Attorney General (1957–1959; 1963–1969), United States Senator from Ohio (1969–1974)					Gerald Ford
71		Edward H. Levi	Dean of the University of Chicago Law School (1950-1962), 7th President of the University of Chicago	Illinois	February 2, 1975	January 20, 1977
–		Dick Thornburgh[d] Acting	United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania (1969–1975) United States Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division (1975–1977)	Pennsylvania	January 20, 1977	January 26, 1977		Jimmy Carter
72		Griffin Bell	Lawyer, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1961–1976)	Georgia	January 26, 1977	August 16, 1979
73		Benjamin Civiletti	Assistant United States Attorney United States Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division (1977–1978) 17th United States Deputy Attorney General (1978–1979)	Maryland	August 16, 1979	January 19, 1981
74		William French Smith	Lawyer, Chairman of the University of California Board of Regents (1970-1972, 1974-1975, 1976)	California	January 23, 1981	February 25, 1985		Ronald Reagan
75		Edwin Meese	Counselor to the President (1981–1985)	California	February 25, 1985	August 12, 1988
76		Dick Thornburgh	Acting United States Attorney General (1977) Governor of Pennsylvania (1979–1987)	Pennsylvania	August 12, 1988	August 15, 1991
								George H. W. Bush
77		William Barr 1st term	United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel (1989–1990) United States Deputy Attorney General (1990–1991)	Virginia	August 16, 1991[b]	November 26, 1991
					November 26, 1991	January 20, 1993
–		Stuart M. Gerson[e] Acting	United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division (1989–1993)	Washington, D.C.	January 20, 1993	March 12, 1993		Bill Clinton
78		Janet Reno	Attorney, State Attorney for Miami-Dade County (1978–1993)	Florida	March 12, 1993	January 20, 2001
–		Eric Holder[f] Acting	United States Deputy Attorney General (1997–2001) United States Attorney for the District of Columbia (1993–1997) Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (1988–1993)	Washington, D.C.	January 20, 2001	February 2, 2001		George W. Bush
79		John Ashcroft	38th Attorney General of Missouri (1977–1983) 50th Governor of Missouri (1985–1993) United States Senator from Missouri (1995–2001)	Missouri	February 2, 2001	February 3, 2005
80		Alberto Gonzales	100th Secretary of State of Texas (1998–1999) Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas (1999–2001) White House Counsel (2001–2005)	Texas	February 3, 2005	September 17, 2007
–		Paul Clement[g] Acting	Lawyer, United States Principal Deputy Solicitor General (2001–2004) 43rd United States Solicitor General (2004–2008)	Washington, D.C.	September 17, 2007	September 18, 2007
–		Peter Keisler[g] Acting	Acting United States Associate Attorney General (2002–2003) United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division (2003–2007)	Washington, D.C.	September 18, 2007	November 9, 2007
81		Michael Mukasey	Attorney, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (2000–2006) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (2006)	New York	November 9, 2007	January 20, 2009
–		Mark Filip Acting	Lawyer, Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2004–2008) 33rd United States Deputy Attorney General (2008–2009)	Illinois	January 20, 2009	February 3, 2009		Barack Obama
82		Eric Holder	Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (1988–1993) United States Attorney for the District of Columbia (1993–1997) United States Deputy Attorney General (1997–2001) Acting United States Attorney General (2001)	Washington, D.C.	February 3, 2009	April 27, 2015
83		Loretta Lynch	United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York (1999–2001, 2010–2015) Member of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (2003–2005)	New York	April 27, 2015	January 20, 2017
–		Sally Yates[h] Acting	Lawyer, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia (2010–2015) 36th United States Deputy Attorney General (2015–2017)	Georgia	January 20, 2017	January 30, 2017		Donald Trump
–		Dana Boente Acting	Attorney, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (2013–2018)	Virginia	January 30, 2017	February 9, 2017
84		Jeff Sessions	United States Senator from Alabama (1997–2017) Attorney General of Alabama (1995–1997) United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama (1981–1993)	Alabama	February 9, 2017	November 7, 2018
–		Rod Rosenstein Acting[i]	Attorney, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland (2005–2017) United States Deputy Attorney General (2017–2019)	Maryland	November 7, 2018
–		Matthew Whitaker Acting[j]	Lawyer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa (2004–2009) Chief of Staff to the Attorney General (2017–2018)	Iowa	November 7, 2018	February 14, 2019
85		William Barr 2nd term	77th United States Attorney General (1991–1993) United States Deputy Attorney General (1990–1991) United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel (1989–1990)	Virginia	February 14, 2019	December 23, 2020
–		Jeffrey A. Rosen Acting	Lawyer 12th Deputy Secretary of Transportation (2017–2019) 38th Deputy Attorney General (2019–2020)	Massachusetts	December 24, 2020	January 20, 2021
–		John Demers Acting[k]	Lawyer Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division (2018–2021)	Massachusetts	January 20, 2021			Joe Biden
–		Monty Wilkinson Acting	Lawyer Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Human Resources and Administration (2019–2021)	Washington, D.C.	January 20, 2021	March 11, 2021
86		Merrick Garland	Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2013–2020) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1997–2021)	Maryland	March 11, 2021	Incumbent

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.^[28] Furthermore, an Executive Order defines subsequent positions, the most recent from March 31, 2017, signed by President Donald Trump.^[29] The current line of succession is:

1. United States Deputy Attorney General
2. United States Associate Attorney General
3. Other officers potentially designated by the attorney general (in no particular order):
   • Solicitor General of the United States
   • Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division
   • Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division
   • Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division
   • Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division
   • Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division
   • Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division
   • Assistant Attorney General, Justice Management Division
   • Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division
   • Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs
   • Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel
   • Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy
   • Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs
4. United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
5. United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina
6. United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas

Notable figures

• First Italian American male: Charles Joseph Bonaparte in 1906^[30]
• First Jewish American male: Edward H. Levi in 1975^[31]
• First female: Janet Reno in 1993^[32]
• First Hispanic American male: Alberto Gonzales in 2005^[33]
• First African American male: Eric Holder in 2009^[34]
• First African American female: Loretta Lynch in 2015^[35]

See also

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

Notes

1. Unusually for a transitional acting appointment, Yates was dismissed and replaced with another Acting Attorney General before Sessions was confirmed because she refused to defend an executive order of the incoming administration.^[12]
2. Served as acting attorney general in his capacity as deputy attorney general, until his own appointment and confirmation as attorney general.
3. On October 20, 1973, Solicitor General Robert Bork became acting attorney general following the "Saturday Night Massacre", in which U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus both resigned.
4. Served as acting attorney general in his capacity as deputy attorney general, until the appointment of a new attorney general. Thornburgh later served as attorney general from 1988–1991.
5. Served as acting attorney general in his capacity as Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Civil Division.^[14] Gerson was fourth in the line of succession at the Justice Department, but other senior DOJ officials had already resigned.^[15] Janet Reno, President Clinton's nominee for attorney general, was confirmed on March 12,^[16] and he resigned the same day.^[16]
6. Served as acting attorney general in his capacity as deputy attorney general, until the appointment of a new attorney general. Holder later served as attorney general from 2009–2015.
7. 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.^[17] 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.^[18][19] According to administration officials, Clement became acting attorney general at 12:01 am September 17, 2007, and left office 24 hours later.^[20] Keisler served as acting attorney general until the confirmation of Michael Mukasey on November 9, 2007.
8. Served as acting attorney general in her capacity as deputy attorney general, until she was fired after saying the Department of Justice would not defend an executive order in court.^[21]
9. Following the resignation of Jeff Sessions as attorney general at the request of President Donald Trump, Rosenstein served as acting attorney general in his capacity as deputy attorney general for a few hours on November 7, 2018 until President Donald Trump signed an executive order naming Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general later that day.^[22]
10. The legality of Matthew Whitaker's appointment as acting attorney general was called into question by several constitutional scholars. Among those included Neal Katyal and George T. Conway III, who asserted it is unconstitutional, because the Attorney General is a principal officer under the Appointments Clause, and thus requires senate consent, even in an acting capacity.^[23] Maryland filed an injunction against Whitaker's appointment on this basis.^[24] John E. Bies at Lawfare regarded it as an unresolved question.^[25] The DOJ Office of Legal Counsel released a legal opinion, asserting that the appointment was legal and consistent with past precedent.^[26]
11. Served as acting attorney general in his capacity as Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ National Security Division for a few hours following the resignation of Jeffrey Rosen at noon on January 20, 2021. President Joe Biden signed an executive order naming Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Human Resources and Administration Monty Wilkinson as acting attorney general later that day.^[27]

References

1. "3 U.S. Code § 19 – Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act". Archived from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
2. 5 U.S.C. § 5312.
3. Benner, Katie (March 10, 2021). "Merrick Garland Is Confirmed as Attorney General". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021.
4. Justice Department [@TheJusticeDept] (March 11, 2021). "Judge Merrick Garland takes his oath of office as the 86th Attorney General of the United States as he is sworn in by Assistant Attorney General for Administration Lee Lofthus. https://t.co/2nbizdpTFp" (Tweet). Retrieved December 13, 2022 – via Twitter.
5. Meyer, Matt (November 22, 2024). "Donald Trump has named former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his new pick to run the Justice Department". CNN. Retrieved November 21, 2024. Trump's new AG pick: President-elect Donald Trump has named former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his new pick to run the Justice Department.
6. Herz, Michael (2002). "Washington, Patton, Schwarzkopf and ... Ashcroft?". Constitutional Commentary. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
7. Garner, Bryan A. (May 2013). "LawProse Lesson #116: What's the plural form of attorney general? And what is the plural possessive?". Above the Law. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
8. Judiciary Act of 1789, section 35.
9. Cabinets and Counselors: The President and the Executive Branch (1997). Congressional Quarterly. p. 87.
10. "Salary Table No. 2021-EX Rates of Basic Pay for the Executive Schedule (EX)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 23, 2021.
11. Gerstein, Josh (January 17, 2017). "Trump will allow U.S. attorneys to stay past Friday". POLITICO. Archived from the original on July 25, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
12. Horwitz, Sari (January 30, 2017). "Who is Sally Yates? Meet the acting attorney general Trump fired for 'betraying' the Justice Department". Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
13. Stern, Laurence; Johnson, Haynes (May 1, 1973). "3 Top Nixon Aides, Kleindienst Out; President Accepts Full Responsibility; Richardson Will Conduct New Probe". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
14. Staff reporter (February 21, 1993). "Stuart Gerson's Parting Shot". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2008. As supporters of the Brady gun-control bill prepare to introduce it in Congress yet again this week, they find a welcome, if unlikely, ally in Stuart Gerson, the Acting Attorney General. Because President Clinton has had so many problems finding a new Attorney General, Mr. Gerson remains in office ...
15. Labaton, Stephen (January 25, 1993). "Notes on Justice; Who's in Charge? Bush Holdover Says He Is, but Two Clinton Men Differ". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
16. Ifill, Gwen (March 12, 1993). "Reno Confirmed in Top Justice Job". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2008. She will replace Acting Attorney General Stuart M. Gerson, a holdover appointee from the Bush Administration. Ms. Reno said he resigned today.
17. Meyers, Steven Lee (August 27, 2007). "Embattled Attorney General Resigns". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2007.
18. "President Bush Announces Judge Michael Mukasey as Nominee for Attorney General" Archived November 11, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, White House press release, September 17, 2007
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External links

• Official website

U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense	Order of precedence of the United States as Attorney General	Succeeded by Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior
U.S. presidential line of succession
Preceded by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin	7th in line	Succeeded by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland