Elizabeth Prelogar
Official portrait, 2021
48th Solicitor General of the United States
Assumed office
October 28, 2021
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byBrian Fletcher (acting)
In office
January 20, 2021 – August 11, 2021
Acting
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byJeff Wall (acting)
Succeeded byBrian Fletcher (acting)
Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States
In office
January 20, 2021 – October 28, 2021
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byJeff Wall
Succeeded byBrian Fletcher
Personal details
Born (1980-03-07) March 7, 1980
Boise, Idaho, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic[1]
EducationEmory University (BA)
University of St Andrews (MLitt)
Harvard University (JD)

Elizabeth Barchas Prelogar (born March 7, 1980; née Elizabeth Margaret Barchas[3]) is an American lawyer who has served as solicitor general of the United States since October 2021. She served as acting solicitor general from January 20, 2021,[4] at the start of the Biden administration, until President Joe Biden sent her nomination to the U.S. Senate on August 11, 2021,[5] when she was prevented from serving while the nomination was before the Senate as a result of the terms of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998.[6]

Early life and education

Prelogar was born on March 7, 1980 as the youngest of four children to Jeanne and Rudolph "Rudy" Barchas[3][7] and was raised in Boise, Idaho.[8] Prelogar has two older brothers, Joshua and Eric, and one older sister, Leah. Joshua passed away shortly after his birth. She graduated from Boise High School in 1998.[9] After first taking college courses at Boise State University at the age of 12,[10] she attended Emory University, where she double majored in English and Russian and was a Fulbright Scholar. She graduated from Emory in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude.

During 2002 and 2003, Prelogar studied creative writing at the University of St Andrews, receiving a Master of Letters with distinction.[11] She then attended Harvard Law School, where she was an articles editor for the Harvard Law Review and a finalist in the Ames Moot Court Competition.[12][13] Prelogar graduated with a Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude from Harvard in 2008.[14][15]

Prelogar is fluent in Russian.[16] While at Harvard, she won an Overseas Press Club scholarship to study Russian media and censorship.[17][18]

Career

After graduating law school, Prelogar spent three years as a law clerk—first for judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2008 to 2009, then for U.S. Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg from 2009 to 2010, and then for Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan from 2010 to 2011. She then entered private practice as an associate at Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C. She taught a course at Harvard Law School on Supreme Court and appellate advocacy.[19]

From 2014 to 2019, Prelogar was an assistant to the solicitor general. She was briefly detailed to the Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. In 2020, she joined Cooley LLP as a partner.[20] She was named principal deputy solicitor general by President Joe Biden in January 2021 and served as Acting Solicitor General.[21] On August 10, 2021, President Biden nominated Prelogar to the office of Solicitor General.[19][22] Her nomination was sent to the Senate that same day.[23] Her nomination was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee,[24] which approved it by a vote of 13–9.[25]

On October 28, 2021, the Senate confirmed Prelogar as solicitor general by a vote of 53–36,[26] making her the second woman to hold the position after Elena Kagan, who later became a Supreme Court Justice.[27][28] She was sworn into office later on that day.[29]

Personal life

She married Brandon Prelogar in 2008, and they have two sons together, Blaise and Beckett. Prelogar was Miss Idaho Teen USA in 1998, Miss Idaho USA in 2001,[30] and Miss Idaho in 2004.[31][32] Prelogar donated to the Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign and Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign.[1] She also performed in a mock trial with Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson in 2016 prior to their appointments to the Supreme Court.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Fouriezos, Nick (April 17, 2019). "The Next Robert Mueller... or a Liberal Brett Kavanaugh?". ozy.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  2. ↑ SCOTUS Staff (April 26, 2022). Oral Argument—Audio / Biden v. Texas / Docket Number: 21-954 (excerpt, official audio). SupremeCourt.gov. Event occurs at 0:08-2:12. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Prelogar, Elizabeth Barchas (2021). "Questionnaire for Non-Judicial Nominees" (primary source (PDF)). Judiciary.Senate.gov. Washington, DC: United States Senate, Committee on the Juciciary. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  4. ↑ DOJ Staff. "Office of the Solicitor General / Meet the Acting Solicitor General". Justice.gov. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  5. ↑ WH Staff (August 11, 2021). "President Biden Nominates Elizabeth Prelogar for Solicitor General". Whitehouse.gov. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  6. ↑ Robinson, Kimberly Strawbridge (August 13, 2021). "Solicitor General's Office Adjusts as Prelogar Steps Back". BloombergLaw.com. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  7. ↑ Antioch College (2019). "Rudolph "Rudy" D. Barchas '66" (secondary source). Obituary. Yellow Springs, Ohio. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Work-Life Imbalance: Pandemic Disruption Places New Stresses on Women Lawyers". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Where Are They Now? Elizabeth Prelogar (formerly Elizabeth Barchas, 1998 graduate of Boise High) to serve temporarily as the top U.S. Supreme Court advocate for the Biden..." spotonidaho.com. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  10. ↑ Ian Max Stevenson, Idaho Statesman, "Born in Boise, raised in Idaho, this 'prolific' woman is Biden's solicitor general pick" August 19, 2021
  11. ↑ "Solicitor General: Elizabeth B. Prelogar". www.justice.gov. May 6, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Members". American Law Institute. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Resume".
  14. ↑ Smith, Kelundra (August 13, 2021). "Emory alumna nominated as solicitor general | Emory University | Atlanta GA". news.emory.edu. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  15. ↑ Perkins, Christine (February 19, 2021). "More Harvard Law Faculty and Alumni Tapped to Serve in the Biden Administration". Harvard Law Today. Retrieved October 28, 2021. [complete text appearing] Elizabeth Prelogar '08 was named principal deputy solicitor general of the U.S.. Department of Justice. She was previously a partner at Cooley in Washington, D.C., where she focused on Supreme Court and appellate litigation, and she was a former assistant to the U.S. solicitor general. Prelogar was also a legal adviser in the special counsel probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Last fall, she taught the Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy Workshop at HLS.
  16. ↑ Gerstein, Josh (August 10, 2021). "Biden selects Elizabeth Prelogar to be solicitor general". Politico. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  17. ↑ Siskind, Amy (March 27, 2018). The List: A Week-by-Week Reckoning of Trump's First Year (1st American ed.). New York, NY: Bloomsbury. p. 172. ISBN 9781635572711.
  18. ↑ "Mueller Recruits Another Lawyer from Solicitor General's Office to Russia Probe".
  19. 1 2 Madhanai, Aamer (August 11, 2021). "Biden Makes Selection for His Top Supreme Court Lawyer". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  20. ↑ Scarcella, Mike (April 14, 2021). "Elizabeth Prelogar's $2M Cooley Compensation Shown in New Disclosure at DOJ". National Law Journal. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  21. ↑ Coyle, Marcia; Barber, C. Ryan (January 19, 2021). "Cooley's Elizabeth Prelogar Will Return to DOJ Solicitor Office as Top Deputy". law.com. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  22. ↑ "President Biden Nominates Elizabeth Prelogar for Solicitor General" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. August 11, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  23. ↑ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. August 11, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  24. ↑ "Solicitor General Nominee Elizabeth Prelogar May Be Heading For A Speedy Confirmation". NPR.org.
  25. ↑ Raymond, Nate (October 7, 2021). "U.S. Senate panel advances Biden solicitor general pick Prelogar". Reuters – via www.reuters.com.
  26. ↑ Marimow, Ann E. (October 29, 2021). "Elizabeth Prelogar Confirmed as Solicitor General Ahead of Supreme Court Battles Over Abortion, Guns". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  27. ↑ "Elizabeth Prelogar Is Solicitor General of the United States". The American Law Institute. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  28. ↑ Norwood, Candice (October 28, 2021). "Senate confirms second-ever woman solicitor general, who represents federal government before Supreme Court". The 19th. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  29. ↑ DOJ Staff (March 2, 2014). "Office of the Solicitor General / Meet the Solicitor General / Elizabeth B. Prelogar". Justice.gov. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  30. ↑ "Meet Biden's Solicitor General Nominee Elizabeth Prelogar - Law360".
  31. ↑ Chen, Vivia (June 20, 2017). "This Beauty Queen Turned DOJ Lawyer Could Mean Trouble for Trump". Law.com. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  32. ↑ 108 Cong. Rec. E1636 (daily ed. Sept. 15, 2004) (statement of C.L. ‘‘Butch’’ Otter). Title of statement is "In Honor of Miss Idaho 2004. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
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