WASHINGTON — If there was a sure path to turning into President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s high lawyer within the West Wing, it was unlikely to ha
WASHINGTON — If there was a sure path to turning into President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s high lawyer within the West Wing, it was unlikely to have began with an apprenticeship to some of the conservative jurists within the nation.
However Dana Remus, a Yale-educated lawyer who clerked for Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. — a rock-solid member of the Supreme Courtroom’s conservative wing — has been named the White Home counsel in Mr. Biden’s administration, the place she’s going to assist information the brand new president by politically charged authorized fights with Republican lawmakers.
An early member of Mr. Biden’s third bid for the presidency, Ms. Remus served because the marketing campaign’s high lawyer and earlier than that was a key authorized adviser to President Barack Obama. She was the White Home ethics lawyer for Mr. Obama and has represented the Obama Basis since he left workplace in 2017.
Now, Ms. Remus will lead the White Home Counsel’s Workplace for Mr. Biden as he seeks to unwind President Trump’s legislative and regulatory legacy and pushes ahead with an agenda of his personal.
Individuals near Ms. Remus stated she will probably be a key a part of that effort, partially as a result of she understands the restrictions — in addition to the vital significance — of the legislation. In contrast to some legal professionals, they stated, Ms. Remus understands that the legislation is only one a part of a broader combine that features politics, coverage and communications.
“President Obama completed his eight years in workplace with none scandal, and that’s largely a credit score to Dana,” stated Eric Schultz, who has served as a spokesman for Mr. Obama since 2011. “It’s why he requested her to assist handle his post-presidency transition, and it’s why it’s no shock Joe Biden would ask her to assist restore ethics and integrity to the White Home.”
Ms. Remus was introduced into Mr. Biden’s orbit by Bob Bauer, a veteran Democratic lawyer who served as chief counsel for Mr. Obama and has been a authorized fixture for Democratic presidents and candidates for many years.
In 2018, she married Brett Holmgren, who served as a nationwide safety aide within the Obama White Home. Friends on the wedding ceremony in Washington have been stunned when the officiant turned out to be none apart from the previous president himself.
Her closeness to Mr. Obama, and now Mr. Biden, has made Ms. Remus a rising star within the Democratic authorized world. However she has remained keen to have interaction with conservatives as effectively.
In 2013, Ms. Remus defended Justice Alito towards a column that accused the jurist of visibly mocking his colleague Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg throughout a courtroom session.
The column, by Dana Milbank of The Washington Publish, stated that Justice Alito, “seated instantly to Ginsburg’s left, shook his head backward and forward in disagreement, rolled his eyes and regarded on the ceiling” whereas Justice Ginsburg was speaking. In a letter to the editor, Ms. Remus wrote that Justice Alito didn’t have “some deep and abiding disrespect for ladies.”
“These of us who’ve been lucky to work intently with Justice Alito know that he’s an excellent man who serves day-after-day with humility, dedication and unimaginable intelligence and perception,” she wrote.
In the summertime of 2019, Ms. Remus taught a category at Duke Regulation Faculty with Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, one of many extra conservative voices within the Senate. The category, for the varsity’s D.C. Summer season Institute on Regulation and Coverage, was aimed toward undergraduates or working professionals who have been contemplating attending legislation faculty. Ms. Remus was already the chief counsel for Mr. Biden’s marketing campaign.
Subsequent 12 months, when Mr. Biden takes workplace, Mr. Lee and different Republican senators will probably be on the opposite aspect of authorized and political fights. It will likely be as much as Ms. Remus to assist information the brand new president by them.