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.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ),also known as the Justice Department,is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries. The department is headed by the U.S. attorney general,who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet. Merrick Garland has served as attorney general since March 2021.
Merrick Brian Garland is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 86th United States attorney general since 2021. He previously served as a circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1997 to 2021. In 2016,President Barack Obama nominated Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court,but the U.S. Senate refused to hold a vote to confirm him.
Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are headed by an assistant attorney general.
Anne Melissa Milgram is an American attorney and academic who currently serves as the 11th Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) since 2021. She previously served as the 57th Attorney General of New Jersey from 2007 to 2010.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is an American coalition of more than 240 national civil and human rights organizations and acts as an umbrella group for American civil and human rights. Founded as the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) in 1950 by civil rights activists Arnold Aronson,A. Philip Randolph,and Roy Wilkins,the coalition has focused on issues ranging from educational equity to justice reform to voting rights.
The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race,sex,disability,religion,and national origin.
Thomas Edward Perez is an American politician and attorney currently serving as senior advisor to the president of the United States and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs,holding both positions since June 2023. Perez previously served as the United States Secretary of Labor (2013–2017),the chair of the Democratic National Committee (2017–2021),and United States Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights (2009–2013).
Pamela Susan Karlan is an American legal scholar who was the principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice from February 8,2021,until July 1,2022. She is a professor at Stanford Law School. A leading legal scholar on voting rights and constitutional law,she previously served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Voting Rights in the DOJ's Civil Rights Division from 2014 to 2015.
Lisa Oudens Monaco is an American attorney who has served as the 39th United States deputy attorney general since April 21,2021. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Joyce Alene Vance is an American lawyer who served as the United States attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2009 to 2017. She was one of the first five U.S. attorneys,and the first female U.S. attorney,nominated by President Barack Obama.
Jeffrey Bossert Clark is an American lawyer who was Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division from 2018 to 2021. In September 2020,he was also appointed acting head of the Civil Division. In 2020 and 2021,Clark allegedly helped then-president Donald Trump attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Clark's actions in that endeavor were reviewed by the District of Columbia Bar –the entity authorized by law to pursue attorney discipline and disbarment in the District of Columbia –which recommended discipline to the DC Court of Appeals in July 2022,and in August 2024 its Board on Professional Responsibility recommended a two year suspension of his law license. He was identified as an unindicted co-conspirator in the federal prosecution of Donald Trump over attempts to overturn the 2020 election. On August 14,2023,he was indicted along with 18 other people in the prosecution related to the 2020 election in Georgia.
Sharon McGowan is an American lawyer and a partner at Katz Banks Kumin LLP,an employment and whistleblower firm based in Washington,D.C. Prior to joining KBK,she was the legal director and chief strategy officer for Lambda Legal. McGowan was an Obama administration appointee in the role of Acting General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel for Policy at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. She also served as Principal Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice. In 2019,she was honored with the Stonewall Award,bestowed by the American Bar Association's Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021 was a policing reform bill drafted by Democrats in the United States Congress. The legislation was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on February 24,2021. The legislation aims to combat police misconduct,excessive force,and racial bias in policing.
Kristen M. Clarke is an American attorney who has served as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the United States Department of Justice since May 2021. Clarke previously served as president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. She also managed the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Attorney General's Office under Eric Schneiderman.
John Michael Formella is an American lawyer serving as the 31st Attorney General of New Hampshire since 2021. He previously served as legal counsel for Governor Chris Sununu.
Jonathan Seth Kanter is an American antitrust attorney who has served as assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division since November 16,2021. Prior to this,Kanter worked as an antitrust attorney at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and in private practice.
The Texas Heartbeat Act,Senate Bill 8,is an act of the Texas Legislature that bans abortion after the detection of embryonic or fetal cardiac activity,which normally occurs after about six weeks of pregnancy. The law took effect on September 1,2021,after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request for emergency relief from Texas abortion providers. It was the first time a state has successfully imposed a six-week abortion ban since Roe v. Wade,and the first abortion restriction to rely solely on enforcement by private individuals through civil lawsuits,rather than having state officials enforce the law with criminal or civil penalties. The act authorizes members of the public to sue anyone who performs or facilitates an illegal abortion for a minimum of $10,000 in statutory damages per abortion,plus court costs and attorneys' fees.
Task Force KleptoCapture is a United States Department of Justice unit established in March 2022 with the goal of enforcing sanctions on Russian oligarchs in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
