The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the

federal government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

on all legal matters. The attorney general is a statutory member of the

Cabinet of the United States The Cabinet of the United States is a body consisting of the vice president of the United States and the heads of the executive branch's departments in the federal government of the United States. It is the principal official advisory body to ...

. Under the

Appointments Clause The Appointments Clause of Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, of the United States Constitution empowers the President of the United States to nominate and, with the advice and consent (confirmation) of the United States Senate, appoint public offi ...

of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

, the officeholder is nominated by the president of the United States, then appointed with the

advice and consent Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something previ ...

of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

. The attorney general is supported by the Office of the Attorney General, which includes executive staff and several deputies.

Merrick Garland Merrick Brian Garland (born November 13, 1952) is an American lawyer and jurist serving since March 2021 as the 86th United States attorney general. He previously served as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of ...

has been the United States attorney general since March 11, 2021.

History

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

passed the

Judiciary Act of 1789 The Judiciary Act of 1789 (ch. 20, ) was a United States federal statute enacted on September 24, 1789, during the first session of the First United States Congress. It established the federal judiciary of the United States. Article III, Sec ...

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 A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in which the United States shall be concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon

questions of law In law, a question of law, also known as a point of law, is a question that must be answered by applying relevant legal principles to interpretation of the law. Such a question is distinct from a question of fact, which must be answered by referenc ...

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

United States solicitor general The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021. The United States solicitor general represent ...

and the

White House counsel The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Of ...

. The

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

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 United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

, the secretary of defense, and the attorney general are regarded as the four most important

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

officials in the United States because of the size and importance of their respective departments. Attorney General is a LevelI position in the Executive Schedule, thus earning a salary of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

221,400, as of January 2021. The title "attorney general" is an example of a noun (''attorney'') followed by a

postpositive adjective A postpositive adjective or postnominal adjective is an adjective that is placed after the noun or pronoun that it modifies, as in noun phrases such as ''attorney general'', ''queen regnant'', or ''all matters financial''. This contrasts with prepo ...

(''general''). "General" is a description of the type of attorney, not a title or rank in itself ( as it would be in the military). Even though the attorney general (and the similarly titled solicitor general) is often referred to as "General" or "General ast name by senior government officials, this is considered incorrect in standard

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

usage. For the same reason, the correct American English plural form is "attorneys general" rather than "attorney generals".

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 The inauguration of the president of the United States is a ceremony to mark the commencement of a new four-year term of the president of the United States. During this ceremony, between 73 to 79 days after the presidential election, the pres ...

(January 20) of a new president. The

deputy attorney general The Deputy Attorney General (DAG) is the second-highest-ranking official in a department of justice or of law, in various governments of the world. In those governments, the deputy attorney general oversees the day-to-day operation of the departme ...

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 Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

on January 20, 2017, then-Attorney General

Loretta Lynch Loretta Elizabeth Lynch (born May 21, 1959) is an American lawyer who served as the 83rd attorney general of the United States from 2015 to 2017. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to succeed Eric Holder and previously served as the Un ...

left her position, so then-Deputy Attorney General

Sally Yates Sally Quillian Yates (born Sally Caroline Quillian; August 20, 1960) is an American lawyer. From 2010 to 2015, she was United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. In 2015, she was appointed United States Deputy Attorney General b ...

, 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 Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States Attorney General from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United States ...

, who had been nominated for the office in November 2016 by then-

President-elect An ''officer-elect'' is a person who has been elected to a position but has not yet been installed. Notably, a president who has been elected but not yet installed would be referred to as a ''president-elect'' (e.g. president-elect of the Unit ...

Donald Trump.

List of attorneys general

Parties

(4) (5) (34) (4) (40) (1)

Status

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 In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...

defines subsequent positions, the most recent from March 31, 2017, signed by President Donald Trump. The current line of succession is: #

United States Deputy Attorney General The United States deputy attorney general is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice and oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department. The deputy attorney general acts as attorney general during the ...

United States Associate Attorney General The associate attorney general of the United States is the third-highest-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Justice. The associate attorney general advises and assists the attorney general and the deputy attorney general in policies re ...

#Other officers potentially designated by the attorney general (in no particular order): #*

Solicitor General of the United States The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021. The United States solicitor general represent ...

#*Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division #*Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division #*Assistant Attorney General,

Civil Rights Division The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is the institution within the federal government responsible for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. T ...

#*Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division #*Assistant Attorney General,

National Security Division National Security Division, or Bahagian Keselamatan Negara (BKN), is a senior grouping within the Malaysian government which meets infrequently. According to a United States Embassy telegram leaked by WikiLeaks in 2011, BKN is regarded as Malaysia' ...

#*Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division #*Assistant Attorney General,

Justice Management Division The Justice Management Division (JMD) is a division of the United States Department of Justice. It is the administrative arm of the Department of Justice. Its mission is to support some 40 senior management offices (SMOs), offices, bureaus, and di ...

#*Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division #*Assistant Attorney General,

Office of Justice Programs The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that focuses on crime prevention through research and development, assistance to state, local, and tribal criminal justice agencies, including law enforce ...

#*Assistant Attorney General,

Office of Legal Counsel The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is an office in the United States Department of Justice that assists the Attorney General's position as legal adviser to the President and all executive branch agencies. It drafts legal opinions of the Attorney ...

#*Assistant Attorney General,

Office of Legal Policy The Office of Legal Policy (OLP) is a division within the United States Department of Justice which describes itself as the "focal point for the development and coordination of Departmental policy." In addition to rendering legal advice to the Un ...

#*Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs #

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, Hampton Ro ...

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (in case citations, E.D.N.C.) is the United States district court that serves the eastern 44 counties in North Carolina. Appeals from the Eastern District of North Caroli ...

United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (in case citations, N.D. Tex.) is a United States district court. Its first judge, Andrew Phelps McCormick, was appointed to the court on April 10, 1879. The court convenes in D ...

Notes

References

External links

* , - {{Navboxes , list = {{USAttGen {{DOJ agencies {{US Cabinet leaders {{US Presidential Line of Succession {{Americas topic, title =Attorneys General of the Americas, prefix=Attorney General of 1789 establishments in the United States

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Attorneys-General