United States Attorney General facts for kids
Quick facts for kids United States Attorney General |
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Flag of the United States attorney general
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Seal of the Department of Justice
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| 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
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| Term length | No fixed term |
| Constituting instrument | 28 U.S.C. § 503 |
| Formation | September 26, 1789 |
| First holder | Edmund Randolph |
| Succession | Seventh |
| Deputy | Deputy Attorney General |
| Salary | Executive Schedule, Level I |
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, 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.
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.
Contents
Name
The title, "attorney general" is an example of a noun (attorney) followed by a postpositive adjective (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 occasionally referred to as "General" or "General [last name]" by senior government officials, this is considered incorrect in standard American English usage. For the same reason, the correct American English plural form is "attorneys general" rather than "attorney generals".
History
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". 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.
Attorney General is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule, thus earning a salary of US$221,400, as of January 2021.
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.
List of attorneys general
Parties
Federalist (4) Democratic-Republican (5) Democratic (34) Whig (4) Republican (40) Independent (1)
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, | 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, | 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 | .jpg) |
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, |
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 | .jpg) |
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, |
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, | 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, |
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, | 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, | 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 | 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 | 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, | 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 | .jpg) |
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 | Massachusetts | January 20, 1961 | September 3, 1964 | John F. Kennedy | |
| Lyndon B. Johnson | ||||||||
| 65 |  |
Nicholas Katzenbach | Illinois | September 4, 1964 | 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 | 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 | ||
| 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 | October 20, 1973 | ||
| – |  |
Robert Bork 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 | 7th President of the University of Chicago | Illinois | February 2, 1975 | January 20, 1977 | ||
| – |  |
Dick Thornburgh 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 | .jpg) |
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 | California | January 23, 1981 | February 25, 1985 | Ronald Reagan | |
| 75 | .jpg) |
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 Deputy Attorney General (1990–1991)
United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel (1989–1990) |
Virginia | August 16, 1991 | November 26, 1991 | ||
| November 26, 1991 | January 20, 1993 | |||||||
| – | Stuart M. Gerson 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 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 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 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 | .jpg) |
Eric Holder | Acting United States Attorney General (2001)
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. | February 3, 2009 | April 27, 2015 | ||
| 83 | .jpg) |
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 | ||
| – | .jpg) |
Sally Yates 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 | |
| – | .jpg) |
Dana Boente Acting |
Attorney,
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (2013–2018) |
Virginia | January 30, 2017 | February 9, 2017 | ||
| 84 | .jpg) |
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 | ||
| – | .jpg) |
Matthew Whitaker Acting |
Lawyer,
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa (2004–2009) Chief of Staff to the United States Attorney General (2017–2018) |
Iowa | November 7, 2018 | February 14, 2019 | ||
| 85 | .jpg) |
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 | ||
| – | .jpg) |
Jeffrey A. Rosen Acting |
Lawyer
12th United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation (2017–2019) 38th United States Deputy Attorney General (2019–2020) |
Massachusetts | December 24, 2020 | January 20, 2021 | ||
| – |  |
John Demers Acting |
Lawyer
United States Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division (2018–2021) |
Massachusetts | January 20, 2021 | January 20, 2021 | Joe Biden | |
| – |  |
Monty Wilkinson Acting |
Lawyer | 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)
Nominee for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (2016) 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. Furthermore, an Executive Order 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
- United States Associate Attorney General
- 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
- United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
- United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina
- United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas
See also
In Spanish: Fiscal general de los Estados Unidos para niños
- Executive Order 13787 for "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice"
