Chuck Cooper Withdraws From The Solicitor General Sweepstakes
What's behind Chuck Cooper's surprising decision?
Earlier this afternoon, after posting a story predicting that Charles “Chuck” Cooper was about to be named solicitor general, I heard from sources of mine who warned me off this angle. So I appended the following note to the piece:
UPDATE (5:03 p.m.): I’ve received pushback from sources claiming that this isn’t quite a done deal — so maybe Chuck Cooper shouldn’t start measuring the drapes at OSG just yet.
I wonder if they had an inkling about this stunning development, just reported by Eliana Johnson and Tara Palmeri of Politico:
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Chuck Cooper, the conservative Supreme Court litigator, is withdrawing his name from consideration to be the next solicitor general, opening the door for the husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway to be appointed to the role.
“I am deeply honored by any consideration that I may have received by Attorney General Sessions and President Trump for appointment as the Solicitor General, but I have asked them to discontinue any further consideration of me for that critically important position,” Cooper said in a statement Thursday.
Whoa!!! You can say many things about the early days of the Trump Administration, but they’re certainly not boring.
UPDATE (6:20 p.m.): See, e.g., the just released Ninth Circuit ruling on Trump’s travel ban.
What’s behind Chuck Cooper’s surprising, perhaps even shocking, decision?
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In an interview on Thursday afternoon, Cooper told POLITICO that he wasn’t prepared to undergo the grueling confirmation process. “Life is too good and too short,” he said.
In his formal statement on the decision to withdraw, Cooper added: “After witnessing the treatment that my friend Jeff Sessions, a decent and honorable man who bears only good will and good cheer to everyone he meets, had to endure at the hands of a partisan opposition that will say anything and do anything to advance their political interests, I am unwilling to subject myself, my family, and my friends to such a process.”
Sure, Chuck, you would’ve had to endure some criticism over your involvement in such matters as the Bob Jones litigation, Hollingsworth v. Perry, and the federal government’s treatment of job applicants with AIDS back in the 1980s. But come on — solicitor freaking general! Arguably the best legal job in America!
But look, Cooper has had some amazing jobs over his long and distinguished career, including Supreme Court clerk and head of the Office of Legal Counsel. If he has made the calculus that he doesn’t want to subject himself to bruising partisan politics, that’s his choice to make. Best of luck to him in all of his future endeavors.
Does this clear the way for longtime Wachtell Lipton partner George T. Conway III to become SG? Here’s what his wife, presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway, told Politico earlier this week (before Jeff Sessions got confirmed as attorney general):
George is a brilliant and accomplished lawyer who is willing to serve this president. At the same time, I’ve been quiet about the specific roles for him partly because of my role here and because the attorney general has not been confirmed. He’s willing to serve and I know that’s a decision he’s made. He would be the first Asian solicitor general, but he could also be a judge.
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Based on my firsthand knowledge of George Conway, he would be outstanding as solicitor general or on the other side of the bench. Good luck to him as well, wherever he might land.
UPDATE (7:22 p.m.): How did Chuck Cooper go from frontrunner yesterday to withdrawing from consideration today? Well, consider this: last night, Rachel Maddow ran an extremely harsh, 15-minute segment — takedown or hit piece, depending on your point of view — all about Cooper. It wouldn’t be shocking if Cooper viewed that as a harbinger of the brutal battle ahead and said, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
UPDATE (10:09 p.m.): Expect a decision on the SG within the next week:
UPDATE (2/10/2017, 9:35 a.m.): Is the race opening up again? Per Ariane de Vogue and Eli Watkins of CNN:
A source told CNN that Trump was still in the process of interviewing candidates for solicitor general. The source said potential candidates include George Conway, husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, as well as Kannon Shanmugam and Christopher Landau.
After all these weeks, have we come full circle? I discussed Shanmugam and Landau as possible SG contenders in my very first post on this subject, back in December. It sounds like the identity of the next SG is anyone’s guess.
Cooper withdraws from solicitor general consideration [Politico]
Chuck Cooper emerges as Trump’s likely choice for solicitor general [Yahoo News]
Washington attorney Charles Cooper likely to get nod as U.S. solicitor general [SCOTUSblog]
Earlier: Congratulations To The Next Solicitor General
The Case For Chuck Cooper As Solicitor General
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David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@abovethelaw.com.
