Kneedler to Make What’s Likely His Last Supreme Court Argument

Edwin Kneedler, who’s argued more cases at the US Supreme Court than any practicing attorney, will make what is likely his last appearance before the court next week on behalf of the Justice Department.

The deputy solicitor general, who earlier this month announced plans to retire from the office after more than four decades, will represent the Environmental Protection Agency on April 23 in a fight over an industry trade group’s challenge to California’s auto emissions standards, according a hearing list released by the court on Thursday.

Kneedler was first hired by then-Assistant Attorney General Antonin Scalia for the Office of Legal Counsel and later moved to the SG’s office, where he worked with future Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. In 1993, Kneedler became deputy solicitor general, a career position that spans presidential administrations.

In that role, he’s argued some of the government’s most important cases on foreign affairs and tribal law. He helped defend the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act in 2012.

“Ed is such a stalwart of the Office of the Solicitor General that it is hard to imagine the office without him,” said Michael Dreeben, who worked with Kneedler at the DOJ for decades.

Kneedler’s retirement, first reported by the Washington Post, comes as the justices are expecting a wave of appeals challenging the Trump administration’s early executive orders, ranging from immigration to funding cuts to the firing of federal workers.

‘Unshakable’ Integrity

Kneedler, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, publicly acknowledged his pending retirement from the Solicitor General’s Office in a speech at his alma mater earlier this month.

In remarks accepting an award at the University of Virginia School of Law, Kneedler made a point to praise federal workers without alluding to the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate many of them and fire Justice Department employees viewed as disloyal to the president.

“I’ve been a career civil servant, not in the press if I can avoid it, and working as a government employee,” Kneedler said. “I’m proud of that career.”

In the course of working with colleagues at the Justice Department and other agencies, Kneedler said, “I’ve been impressed and optimistic by the talents, by the dedication and by the compassion and understanding for our country and dedication to our country of the lawyers I’ve worked with and non-lawyers.”

In 2008, Roberts congratulated Kneedler on his 100th argument before the justices.

“You are the first to reach this rare milestone this century,” Roberts said.

Since then, Kneedler has argued dozens more cases, most recently defending the constitutionality of a law seeking to bring terrorist organizations within the reach of federal courts.

Kneedler’s “commitment to the rule of law, candor to the courts, and intellectual integrity is unshakable,” said Dreeben, who is now a lecturer on law at Harvard Law School. “The Justices always knew that when Ed was at the podium, he could be trusted to provide the Court with everything he knew about any issue, dipping deeply into the storehouse of knowledge.”

New Hire

The Justice Department has hired former Jones Day partner Hashim Mooppan to serve as a principal deputy solicitor general, alongside Sarah Harris, who served as the acting solicitor general early in the current administration.

The court announced Mooppan will be representing the government on April 21 in its appeal of a lower court ruling that found some Obamacare coverage requirements for preventive services unconstitutional.

A former Scalia clerk, Mooppan previously served in the Justice Department as counselor to the solicitor general and deputy assistant attorney general for the Civil Appellate Staff. He’s argued five cases at the Supreme Court.

“Hashim is one of the finest lawyers I’ve ever worked with,” said Noel Francisco, Partner-in-Charge of the Jones Day’s Washington office and former Solicitor General. “He is both brilliant and principled. The Department of Justice is fortunate to have him back.”

The principal deputy is typically one of just two political appointees in the office, along with the solicitor general. The Senate confirmed Trump’s former attorney D. John Sauer to be his solicitor general on April 3.

Sauer will make his debut as solicitor general before the court on April 30. The government is supporting the establishment of a publicly funded charter school in Oklahoma.