White House Counsel

Top presidential legal advisor

For other United States offices of special counsel, see United States Office of Special Counsel (disambiguation).

"Office of Counsel to the President" redirects here. For the Sri Lankan position, see President's Counsel.

White House Counsel

Incumbent
David Warrington

since January 20, 2025

Formation| 1943
First holder| Samuel Rosenman

The White House Counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Office of White House Counsel, a team of lawyers and support staff who provide legal guidance for the president and the White House Office. At least when the White House Counsel is advising the president on legal matters pertaining to the duties or prerogatives of the president, this office is also called Counsel to the President.[1] When initially created, it was named simply Special Counsel.

David Warrington is the current White House counsel, serving since January 20, 2025.[2]

## Responsibilities

[edit]

The Office of Counsel to the President and Vice 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 contact for the Department of Justice (DOJ).[3][4]

## Limitations

[edit]

Although the White House counsel offers legal advice to the president and vice president, the counsel does so in the president's and vice 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 between the counsel and the president and vice president, namely with John Dean of Watergate notoriety. It is clear, however, that the privilege does not apply in strictly personal matters. It also does not apply to legislative proceedings by the U.S. Congress against the president due to allegations of misconduct while in office, such as formal censures or impeachment proceedings. In those situations the president relies on a personal attorney if he desires confidential legal advice.

Like all similarly appointed positions in the White House and Executive Office of the President, the White House Counsel's office is also quite distinct from and separate to the judiciary. It is also different in type to other senior positions which are not simply presidentially appointed but rather are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. In the legal realm, these would be foremost the attorney general of the United States, and their principal deputy and other assistants, who are nominated by the president to oversee the United States Department of Justice, and the solicitor general of the United States (the fourth-ranking official in the Justice Department) and staff, who argue cases before the U.S. Supreme Court (and in lower federal courts) for the Justice Department when it, or the Federal Government or an officer thereof (including the President), is a party to the case.[5] The White House Counsel does, however, usually act as the primary contact point between the DOJ and the White House.

## List of White House counsels

[edit]

Denotes acting capacity.

Image  | Name  | Start  | End  | President

|
|
|
|

| Samuel Rosenman | October 2, 1943 | February 1, 1946 |  | Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1933–1945)
| Harry S. Truman
(1945–1953)
| Clark Clifford | February 1, 1946 | January 31, 1950
| Charles Murphy | January 31, 1950 | January 20, 1953
| Tom Stephens
On leave | January 20, 1953 | April 14, 1953 |  | Dwight D. Eisenhower
(1953–1961)
| Bernard Shanley | January 20, 1953 | April 14, 1953
April 14, 1953 | February 19, 1955
| Gerald Morgan | February 19, 1955 | November 5, 1958
| David Kendall | November 5, 1958 | January 20, 1961
| Ted Sorensen | January 20, 1961 | February 29, 1964 |  | John F. Kennedy
(1961–1963)
| Lyndon B. Johnson
(1963–1969)
| Mike Feldman | April 1964 | January 17, 1965
| Lee White | January 17, 1965 | February 11, 1966
| Milton Semer | February 14, 1966 | December 31, 1966
| Harry McPherson | February 11, 1966 | October 26, 1967
| Larry Temple | October 26, 1967 | January 20, 1969
| John Ehrlichman | January 20, 1969 | November 4, 1969 |  | Richard Nixon
(1969–1974)
| Chuck Colson | November 6, 1969 | July 9, 1970
| John Dean | July 9, 1970 | April 30, 1973
| Len Garment | April 30, 1973 | August 9, 1974
| Philip Buchen | August 9, 1974 | January 20, 1977 |  | Gerald Ford
(1974–1977)
| Robert Lipshutz | January 20, 1977 | October 1, 1979 |  | Jimmy Carter
(1977–1981)
| Lloyd Cutler | October 1, 1979 | January 20, 1981
| Fred Fielding | January 20, 1981 | May 23, 1986 |  | Ronald Reagan
(1981–1989)
| Peter Wallison | May 23, 1986 | March 20, 1987
| Arthur Culvahouse | March 20, 1987 | January 20, 1989
| Boyden Gray | January 20, 1989 | January 20, 1993 |  | George H. W. Bush
(1989–1993)
| Bernard Nussbaum | January 20, 1993 | March 8, 1994 |  | Bill Clinton
(1993–2001)
| Lloyd Cutler | March 8, 1994 | October 1, 1994
| Abner Mikva | October 1, 1994 | November 1, 1995
| Jack Quinn | November 1, 1995 | February 1997
| Chuck Ruff | February 1997 | August 6, 1999
| Cheryl Mills
Acting | August 6, 1999 | September 1999
| Beth Nolan | September 1999 | January 20, 2001
| Alberto Gonzales | January 20, 2001 | February 3, 2005 |  | George W. Bush
(2001–2009)
| Harriet Miers | February 3, 2005 | January 31, 2007
| Fred Fielding | January 31, 2007 | January 20, 2009
| Greg Craig | January 20, 2009 | January 3, 2010 |  | Barack Obama
(2009-2017)
| Bob Bauer | January 3, 2010 | June 30, 2011
| Kathy Ruemmler | June 30, 2011 | June 2, 2014
| Neil Eggleston | June 2, 2014 | January 20, 2017
| Don McGahn | January 20, 2017 | October 17, 2018 |  | Donald Trump
(2017–2021)
| Emmet Flood
Acting | October 18, 2018 | December 10, 2018
| Pat Cipollone | December 10, 2018 | January 20, 2021
| Dana Remus | January 20, 2021 | July 1, 2022 |  | Joe Biden
(2021–2025)
| Stuart Delery | July 1, 2022 | September 11, 2023
| Ed Siskel | September 11, 2023 | January 20, 2025
| David Warrington | January 20, 2025 | Incumbent  |  | Donald Trump
(2025–present)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Letter from Dana A. Remus, Counsel to the President, to Daniel Ferreiro, Archivist of the United States, dated October 8, 2021, issued by The White House as a Release on October 12, 2021. See also, letter of Darell Issa, then Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to W. Neil Eggleston, then "Counsel to the President," dated July 11, 2014, which letter appears as the 2nd item in the Appendix to the record of the July 16, 2014 session of a Hearing of said House Committee.
2. ^ "January 30, 2025 Mr. David Warrington Counsel" (PDF). oversightdemocrats.house.gov.
3. ^ "Agencies - Counsel to the President". Federal Register. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
4. ^ "Department Descriptions". clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
5. ^ "The Cabinet". The White House. Retrieved 2025-03-31.

## External links

[edit]

* Executive Office of the President
* Records of Thomas E. Stephens, White House Counsel, 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
* Diaries of Bernard M. Shanley, White House Counsel, 1953-1955, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
* Records of Gerald Morgan, White House Counsel, 1955-1958, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library Archived 2018-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
* Records of David W. Kendall, White House Counsel, 1958-1961, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library

* v
* t
* e

White House counsels

* Rosenman
* Clifford
* Murphy
* Stephens (leave)
* Shanley
* Morgan
* Kendall
* Sorensen
* Feldman
* White
* Semer
* McPherson
* Temple
* Colson
* Ehrlichman
* Dean
* Garment
* Buchen
* Lipshutz
* Cutler
* Fielding
* Wallison
* Culvahouse
* Gray
* Nussbaum
* Cutler
* Mikva
* Quinn
* Ruff
* Mills (Acting)
* Nolan
* Gonzales
* Miers
* Fielding
* Craig
* Bauer
* Ruemmler
* Eggleston
* McGahn
* Flood (acting)
* Cipollone
* Remus
* Delery
* Siskel
* Warrington

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* Defunct: American Innovation
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