Solicitor General of the United States SG

When Congress created the Department of Justice in a law signed on June 22, 1870, it also created the office of Solicitor General, a lawyer of learning in the law to assist the Attorney General and argue the government's cases. The Solicitor General is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, is the fourth-ranking official in the Justice Department, and leads a small office of about two dozen career and political lawyers. Thurgood Marshall served as Solicitor General before joining the Supreme Court.

The Solicitor General decides whether the United States will appeal lower court losses, petition the Supreme Court to hear a case, or file friend-of-the-court briefs in cases where the government is not a party, and the office or its lawyers argue nearly all federal cases before the Justices. Because the Court grants the government's petitions far more often than those of other litigants, and frequently invites the Solicitor General's views, the office is sometimes called the tenth Justice. Its lawyers traditionally wear morning coats when arguing, and the office occasionally confesses error when it concludes the government was wrong below.

The office tries to balance advocacy for each administration's policies with long-term credibility with the Court, and solicitors general have sometimes declined to defend laws they considered unconstitutional. Since 2025 the office has filed an unusually large number of emergency applications asking the Supreme Court to pause lower court orders against administration policies, many of which the Court granted on its emergency docket. Supporters said lower courts were blocking lawful policies nationwide, while critics said the strategy pushed major questions to quick rulings without full briefing or argument.