White House Counsel - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The White House Counsel is a staff appointee of the President of the United States

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

Role

The Counsel

Counsel

A counsel or a counselor gives advice, more particularly in legal matters.-U.K. and Ireland:The legal system in England uses the term counsel as an approximate synonym for a barrister-at-law, and may apply it to mean either a single person who pleads a cause, or collectively, the body of barristers...

's role is to advise the President on all legal issues concerning the President and the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

. The current White House Counsel is Kathryn Ruemmler

Kathryn Ruemmler

Kathryn Ruemmler is an attorney who currently serves as White House Counsel to President Barack Obama. She previously worked as Principal Deputy White House Counsel.-Early life and education:...

Responsibilities

The Office of Counsel to the President was created in 1943, and is responsible for advising on all legal aspects of policy questions, legal issues arising in connection with the President's decision to sign or veto legislation, ethical questions, financial disclosures, and conflicts of interest during employment and post employment. The Counsel's Office also helps define the line between official and political activities, oversees executive appointments and judicial selection, handles Presidential pardons, reviews legislation and Presidential statements, and handles lawsuits against the President in his role as President, as well as serving as the White House

White House

contact for the Department of Justice

United States Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

Limitations

Although the White House Counsel offers legal advice to the President, the Counsel does so in the President's official capacity, and does not serve as the President's personal attorney. Therefore, controversy has emerged over the scope of the attorney-client privilege

Attorney-client privilege

Attorney–client privilege is a legal concept that protects certain communications between a client and his or her attorney and keeps those communications confidential....

between the Counsel and the President. It is clear, however, that the privilege does not apply in personal matters, such as impeachment

Impeachment

Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....

proceedings; thus, in such situations the President relies on a personal attorney for confidential legal advice.

Current counsel

Of the 20 senior, associate, and deputy associate counselors at the commencement of the Obama Administration, eleven were women. Half were from either Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

or Yale Law School

Yale Law School

Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...

. Two attended Columbia Law School

Columbia Law School

Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...

; two attended Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School is a graduate school at Stanford University located in the area known as the Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. The Law School was established in 1893 when former President Benjamin Harrison joined the faculty as the first professor of law...

. Several other top law schools were represented by one counselor. Most attended top undergraduate institutions as well.

Senior Counsels include:

Assistant to the President and Counsel to the President: Kathryn Ruemmler
Kathryn Ruemmler
Kathryn Ruemmler is an attorney who currently serves as White House Counsel to President Barack Obama. She previously worked as Principal Deputy White House Counsel.-Early life and education:...
- Deputy Counsel to the President for National Security Affairs and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council: Mary DeRosa
- Deputy Counsel:Leslie Kiernan

External links

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