The nomination hearing for Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan ’86 to become the U.S. Solicitor General took place today. The Senate Judiciary Committee also considered the nomination of Thomas Perrelli ’91 as Associate Attorney General during the same hearing. (Watch a CSPAN webcast.) A blog account of the hearing is here.
Kagan’s nomination as Solicitor General was announced by the Obama administration in early January. If approved, she will become the 44th solicitor general of the U.S.
Kagan is the Charles Hamilton Houston Professor of Law. She first came to Harvard Law School as a visiting professor in 1999 and became Professor of Law in 2001. She has taught administrative law, constitutional law, civil procedure, and seminars on issues involving the separation of powers. She was appointed Dean of the Law School in 2003.
From 1995 to 1999, Kagan served in the White House, first as Associate Counsel to the President (1995-96) and then as Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council (1997-99). In those positions she played a key role in the executive branch’s formulation, advocacy, and implementation of law and policy in areas ranging from education to crime to public health.
Perrelli is currently Managing Partner of Jenner & Block’s Washington, DC office. He is Co-Chair of the Firm’s Entertainment and New Media Practice and is a member of the Firm’s Litigation Department. From 1997 to 1999, he served as counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno, supervising a variety of civil matters at the Department of Justice. He subsequently rose to Deputy Assistant Attorney General (1999-2001), supervising the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division.