Jenner & Block’s Wolosky to Join White House for Afghan Role

Lee Wolosky, a partner at law firm Jenner & Block, is joining the Biden Administration to advise on efforts to resettle Afghan evacuees and other issues related to the military withdrawal from Afghanistan, a White House official confirmed on Wednesday.

Wolosky, a former diplomat and national security official, will serve as a special counsel working with the National Security Council and senior leadership in the White House related to Operation Allies Welcome. The Homeland Security Department-led initiative aims to resettle in the U.S. vulnerable Afghans, including those who worked on behalf of the country.

The Biden administration has previously told refugee groups to prepare for at least 50,000 Afghans expected to be admitted to the U.S. Most of the refugees will arrive under a humanitarian parole status that allows them to apply for immigration status. Others will arrive after completing the Special Immigrant Visa process, according to a DHS fact sheet.

The State Department has consulted with Congress on the eligibility of the Afghans for federal benefits, including Medicaid, Bloomberg News reported last week.

Axios first reported Wolosky’s new position.

Wolosky has previously served in national security positions under three U.S. presidents.

He served as special envoy during the effort to close the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay from mid-2015 to early 2017. He was the chief U.S. diplomat in President Obama’s efforts to close the detention center and he was granted the rank of ambassador in 2016.

Under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Wolosky served as Director of Transnational Threats on the National Security Council at the White House.

Wolosky joined Jenner & Block in February 2020 from Boies Schiller Flexner, where he had reportedly earned a role as independent monitor of Deutsche Bank related to consent decrees the German bank entered into with the New York State Department of Financial Services.

“We’re grateful for Lee’s public service advising the highest levels of government on some of the most critical issues of our time,” Jenner & Block Co-Managing Partners Katya Jestin and Randy Mehrberg said in a statement. “This service very much embodies the values of our firm and reflects a long tradition of similar assignments. We wish him every success.”