Solicitor General of the United States

The United States solicitor general (USSG) is the fourth-highest ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. The solicitor general is the person appointed to represent the U.S. federal government before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Solicitor General of the United States
Flag of the United States solicitor general
Incumbent D. John Sauer since April 4, 2025
United States Department of Justice
Style	Mr. Solicitor General General (in the Supreme Court)
Reports to	Attorney General
Seat	Supreme Court Building and Department of Justice Headquarters
Appointer	The president with Senate advice and consent
Constituting instrument	28 U.S.C. § 505
Formation	October 1870
First holder	Benjamin Bristow
Deputy	Principal Deputy Solicitor General
Website	justice.gov/osg

The solicitor general determines the legal position that the United States will take in the Supreme Court. In addition to supervising and conducting cases in which the government is a party, the office of the solicitor general also files amicus curiae briefs in cases in which the federal government has a significant interest in the legal issue.

The office of the solicitor general argues on behalf of the government in virtually every case in which the United States is a party, and also argues in most of the cases in which the government has filed an amicus brief.

List of solicitors general

Image	Name	Start	End	President
	Bristow, BenjaminBenjamin Bristow	October 11, 1870	November 15, 1872		Grant, UlyssesUlysses Grant
	Phillips, SamuelSamuel Phillips	December 11, 1872	May 1, 1885
	Goode, JohnJohn Goode	May 1, 1885	August 5, 1886		Cleveland, GroverGrover Cleveland
	Jenks, GeorgeGeorge Jenks	July 30, 1886	May 29, 1889
	Chapman, OrlowOrlow Chapman	May 29, 1889	January 19, 1890		Harrison, BenjaminBenjamin Harrison
	Taft, WilliamWilliam Taft	February 4, 1890	March 20, 1892
	Aldrich, CharlesCharles Aldrich	March 21, 1892	May 28, 1893
	Maxwell, LawrenceLawrence Maxwell	April 6, 1893	January 30, 1895		Cleveland, GroverGrover Cleveland
	Conrad, HolmesHolmes Conrad	February 6, 1895	July 1, 1897
	Richards, JohnJohn Richards	July 6, 1897	March 16, 1903		McKinley, WilliamWilliam McKinley
	Hoyt, HenryHenry Hoyt	February 25, 1903	March 31, 1909		Roosevelt, TheodoreTheodore Roosevelt
	Bowers, LloydLloyd Bowers	April 1, 1909	September 9, 1910		Taft, WilliamWilliam Taft
	Lehmann, FrederickFrederick Lehmann	December 12, 1910	July 15, 1912
	Bullitt, WilliamWilliam Bullitt	July 16, 1912	March 11, 1913
	Davis, JohnJohn Davis	August 30, 1913	November 26, 1918		Wilson, WoodrowWoodrow Wilson
	King, AlexanderAlexander King	November 27, 1918	May 23, 1920
	Frierson, WilliamWilliam Frierson	June 1, 1920	June 30, 1921
	Beck, JamesJames Beck	June 1, 1921	May 11, 1925		Harding, WarrenWarren Harding
	Mitchell, WilliamWilliam Mitchell	June 4, 1925	March 5, 1929		Coolidge, CalvinCalvin Coolidge
	Hughes, CharlesCharles Hughes	May 27, 1929	April 16, 1930		Hoover, HerbertHerbert Hoover
	Thacher, ThomasThomas Thacher	March 22, 1930	May 4, 1933
	Biggs, JamesJames Biggs	May 5, 1933	March 24, 1935		Roosevelt, FranklinFranklin Roosevelt
	Reed, StanleyStanley Reed	March 25, 1935	January 30, 1938
	Jackson, RobertRobert Jackson	March 5, 1938	January 17, 1940
	Biddle, FrancisFrancis Biddle	January 22, 1940	September 4, 1941
	Fahy, CharlesCharles Fahy	November 15, 1941	September 27, 1945
	McGrath, HowardHoward McGrath	October 4, 1945	October 7, 1946		Truman, HarryHarry Truman
	Perlman, PhilipPhilip Perlman	July 30, 1947	August 15, 1952
	Cummings, WalterWalter Cummings	December 2, 1952	March 1, 1953
	Sobeloff, SimonSimon Sobeloff	February 10, 1954	July 19, 1956		Eisenhower, DwightDwight Eisenhower
	Rankin, LeeLee Rankin	August 4, 1956	January 23, 1961
	Cox, ArchibaldArchibald Cox	January 24, 1961	July 31, 1965		Kennedy, John F.John F. Kennedy
	Marshall, ThurgoodThurgood Marshall	August 11, 1965	August 30, 1967		Johnson, LyndonLyndon Johnson
	Griswold, ErwinErwin Griswold	October 12, 1967	June 25, 1973
	Bork, RobertRobert Bork	June 27, 1973	January 20, 1977		Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon
					Ford, GeraldGerald Ford
	Friedman, DanielDaniel Friedman Acting	January 20, 1977	March 4, 1977		Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter
	McCree, WadeWade McCree	March 4, 1977	January 20, 1981
	Lee, RexRex Lee	August 6, 1981	June 1, 1985		Reagan, RonaldRonald Reagan
	Fried, CharlesCharles Fried	June 1, 1985 Acting: June 1, 1985 – October 23, 1985	January 20, 1989
	Bryson, WilliamWilliam Bryson Acting	January 20, 1989	May 27, 1989		Bush, George H. W.George H. W. Bush
	Starr, KenKen Starr	May 27, 1989	January 20, 1993
	Bryson, WilliamWilliam Bryson Acting	January 20, 1993	June 7, 1993		Clinton, BillBill Clinton
	Days, DrewDrew Days	June 7, 1993	June 28, 1996
	Dellinger, WalterWalter Dellinger Acting	June 28, 1996	November 7, 1997
	Waxman, SethSeth Waxman	November 7, 1997	January 20, 2001
	Underwood, BarbaraBarbara Underwood Acting	January 20, 2001	June 13, 2001		Bush, George W.George W. Bush
	Olson, TedTed Olson	June 13, 2001	July 13, 2004
	Clement, PaulPaul Clement	July 13, 2004 Acting: July 13, 2004 – June 13, 2005	June 2, 2008
	Garre, GregoryGregory Garre	June 2, 2008 Acting: June 2, 2008 – October 2, 2008	January 20, 2009
	Kneedler, EdwinEdwin Kneedler Acting	January 20, 2009	March 20, 2009		Obama, BarackBarack Obama
	Kagan, ElenaElena Kagan	March 20, 2009	May 17, 2010
	Katyal, NealNeal Katyal Acting	May 17, 2010	June 9, 2011
	Verrilli, DonDon Verrilli	June 9, 2011	June 25, 2016
	Gershengorn, IanIan Gershengorn Acting	June 25, 2016	January 20, 2017
	Francisco, NoelNoel Francisco Acting	January 20, 2017	March 10, 2017		Trump, DonaldDonald Trump
	Wall, JeffJeff Wall Acting	March 10, 2017	September 19, 2017
	Francisco, NoelNoel Francisco	September 19, 2017	July 3, 2020
	Wall, JeffJeff Wall Acting	July 3, 2020	January 20, 2021
	Prelogar, ElizabethElizabeth Prelogar Acting	January 20, 2021	August 11, 2021		Biden, JoeJoe Biden
	Fletcher, BrianBrian Fletcher Acting	August 11, 2021	October 28, 2021
	Prelogar, ElizabethElizabeth Prelogar	October 28, 2021	January 20, 2025
	Harris, SarahSarah Harris Acting	January 20, 2025	April 4, 2025		Trump, DonaldDonald Trump
	Sauer, D. JohnD. John Sauer	April 4, 2025	Incumbent

Note: Some terms overlap because the incumbent remained in office after a successor was named. The office has been vacant at times while awaiting the nomination or confirmation of a successor.

Solicitor General Of The United States Media

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  Organizational chart for the office of the Solicitor General