“The part that the public sees is the arguments up at the podium and the briefs that we file. But a significant part of the job - in fact, I'd say I spend more of my time on this part of the job, which is deciding what the position of the United States will be in the cases that we're going to be participating in before the court.” StatesFactsJobsUnitedCasesUnited StatesPositionArgumentCourtSignificantMy TimeFilesParticipating Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“When we're not a party, we sometimes file as amicus, as friend of the court, 25, 30 times a term, sometimes more. And in each of those cases, we've got to decide what position the government's going to take. And that is the solicitor general's job to make that decision.” SometimesGovernmentJobsTermDecisionPartyCasesPositionCourtFilesSolicitors Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“I had a great deal of independence from the president and the White House during the entirety of my five years. And I'm not sure exactly what that is, but our friend, Walter Dellinger, has a theory about it, and I think he's probably right. And the theory starts with the fact that I worked in the White House for a year and a half before coming over to the position of SG. And because of that, when I was nominated, there was some chatter out there that, "Oh. They're putting a political hack in. This has never happened before."” ThinkingYearsFactsPoliticalHousePresidentWhiteDealsHalfFiveHappenedPositionTheoryIndependenceNot SureFive YearsWhite HouseHacksChatterEntirety Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“I'm arguing for progressive positions on behalf of a progressive administration in front of a court who, before Justice [Antonin] Scalia's death, had a conservative majority that was quite conservative, frankly.” JusticeFrontsPositionMajorityCourtConservativeArguingAdministrationProgressiveBehalf Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
