News
Trump to Pick Ohio Solicitor General, T. Elliot Gaiser, for Justice Dept. Legal Post
President Trump intends to nominate T. Elliot Gaiser, the conservative solicitor general of Ohio, to be the assistant attorney general leading the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, according to a Justice Department official. That position has traditionally often had the final say on legal debates within the executive branch.
The Office of Legal Counsel issues authoritative interpretations of the law for the executive branch through courtlike opinions. Its view of what the law permits is binding on other agencies and officials unless the attorney general overrides the office or the president opts not to take its advice.
The office was at the center of many legal and policy fights during Mr. Trump’s first administration. Led by the Trump appointee Steven Engel, it signed off on the ordering of the targeted killing of a top Iranian official and the Treasury Department’s withholding of Mr. Trump’s tax returns from Congress.
Mr. Gaiser, whose selection as the forthcoming nominee was provided by the official on condition of anonymity to discuss a matter that has not yet been announced, has a strong conservative legal résumé.
He clerked for Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. during the Supreme Court’s 2021-2 term, when Justice Alito wrote the majority opinion overruling the Roe v. Wade abortion rights precedent.
Mr. Gaiser had previously served two clerkship years with prominent conservative appellate court judges, Judge Neomi Rao of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Judge Edith H. Jones of the Fifth Circuit, alternating with short stints at law firms.
He did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment late on Tuesday.
A native of Ohio, Mr. Gaiser attended Hillsdale College, a Christian liberal arts college in Michigan, and graduated in 2012 with a degree in political economy and speech studies. He spent a year at Ohio State University’s law school before transferring to the University of Chicago to finish his degree, according to his LinkedIn profile.
After his Supreme Court clerkship, Mr. Gaiser spent a year as an associate at the law firm Jones Day before the Ohio attorney general, Dave Yost, appointed him as the state’s solicitor general, representing the state government in appellate matters. Mr. Gaiser had clerked in that office after his second year in law school.
In announcing the appointment in October 2023, Mr. Yost called Mr. Gaiser “a master craftsman of ironclad legal arguments rooted in originalist principles and constitutional restraint.”
He argued before the Supreme Court in February, defending a state agency in a discrimination case brought by a heterosexual woman who twice lost positions to gay colleagues.
His arguments attracted puzzlement from the justices because he disavowed lower-court rulings in favor of the state that had turned on the idea that a member of a majority group must provide extra evidence of discrimination, compared to a member of a minority.
Mr. Gaiser told the Supreme Court that the plaintiff could not establish that she was discriminated against based on her sexual orientation so should lose the case — but also that the state agreed with her that “it is wrong to hold some litigants to a higher standard because of their protected characteristics.”
That prompted Justice Elena Kagan to ask whether the appeals court — which had ruled for Ohio — was wrong. Mr. Gaiser said it was.
“The idea that you hold people to different standards because of their protected characteristics is wrong,” he said.
The website for the Federalist Society, the conservative legal network, shows that Mr. Gaiser has participated in numerous events sponsored by the group in recent years. And the Heritage Foundation, where he was an intern in the summer of 2013, honored him last December as a distinguished alumnus.
He told a Heritage Foundation-linked online publication in December that Ohio was suing the Biden administration in 44 cases, while expressing conservative views on issues like environmental regulations, illegal immigration and transgender rights.
Democratic candidate for governor Abigail Spanberger gives remarks during a rally on Saturday in Norfolk, Virginia.
Shaban Athuman/VPM News
hide caption
toggle caption
Shaban Athuman/VPM News
Democrat Abigail Spanberger will be Virginia’s next governor, according to a race call by the Associated Press.
Spanberger, who previously served three terms in the U.S. House, defeated her Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. She’ll be Virginia’s first woman governor.
The contest received national attention as one of the first major tests of voter sentiment in response to the Trump administration’s policies.
Virginia is home to around 320,000 federal workers and hundreds of thousands of federal contractors. On the campaign trail, Spanberger argued that federal layoffs, cutbacks by President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tariffs, and the federal shutdown were an attack on the Virginia economy — and pitched herself as a way for voters to push back.
“We need a governor who will recognize the hardship of this moment, advocate for Virginians, and make clear that not only are we watching people be challenged in their livelihoods and in their businesses and in communities, but Virginia’s economy is under attack,” Spanberger said at a stop on a campaign bus tour late last month.
That message resonated with Haley Morgan Wright, a voter whose husband is a federal employee currently working without pay during the federal shutdown. She wants Spanberger to use her platform as governor to uplift the stories of civil servants like him.
“He cares about his country, he wants to serve his country and has opted to do it in this way,” she said after casting a ballot in the Northern Virginia exurbs. “He’s not superfluous.”
Spanberger was backed by national Democrats
National Democrats had looked to Spanberger and Virginia Democrats for a boost heading into the 2026 midterms. Former President Barack Obama had campaigned for her and the party backed her in what was one of just two governor’s races this year.
Voters cast their ballots at Huguenot High School on Tuesday in Richmond, Virginia.
Ryan M. Kelly/VPM News
hide caption
toggle caption
Ryan M. Kelly/VPM News
“The DNC has been spending a lot of money and a lot of time in Virginia,” said DNC Vice Chair Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta at a meeting for party volunteers in Northern Virginia. “Because we know that what you all do and the momentum that is going to come out of your victories is going lead to us flipping the House of Representatives in 2026.”
In 2021, Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe with 50.6% of the vote to 48.7%. Virginia governors are limited to one four-year term.
Spanberger, who served in the CIA before running for Congress in 2018, has cultivated a reputation as a pragmatic centrist. The theme of her run for governor was “affordability” — speaking to Virginians’ concerns about rising costs of housing, utility bills, pharmaceutical drugs, and the economic uncertainty she blamed on Trump’s tariffs and federal layoffs.
Earle-Sears, meanwhile, portrayed herself as an example of the American dream — a Jamaican immigrant who became a U.S. Marine and small business owner.
She accused Spanberger of backing policies on transgender rights that she said are a threat to girls’ safety in school bathrooms and locker rooms.
“Love is not having my daughter having to be forced to undress in a locker room with a man. That’s not love,” Earle-Sears said at a rally in late October. “Love is making sure that our girl children have opportunities in sports and are not forced to play against biological males.”
Earle-Sears’ stance on transgender students in girls’ bathrooms sounded good to Elizabeth Drake, a voter who said she works with youth at a church in Loudoun County.
“I feel like we’re actually going back and setting ourselves back a lot by endangering women,” she said. “I’m not saying that that doesn’t mean we can have alternative spaces for people, but the women’s locker rooms, women’s bathrooms, women’s safe homes are not it.”
Winsome Earle-Sears, currently Virginia’s lieutenant governor, in the Virginia General Assembly last month.
Shaban Athuman/VPM News
hide caption
toggle caption
Shaban Athuman/VPM News
The race was jolted by late-breaking events
She also attacked Spanberger for supporting Biden administration policies. She vowed to continue business-friendly polices of outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. While she backed Trump’s policies, Trump did not endorse her.
Several developments impacted the final weeks of the race. The federal shutdown shadowed the final month of early voting, with both campaigns blaming the other party for the stalemate.
Virginia lawmakers began considering a plan to redistrict the state’s congressional districts to favor Democratic candidates in the 2026 midterm elections, as President Trump pushes Republicans in other states to move to favor their candidates. That could be an issue facing the next Virginia governor.
Former President Barack Obama campaigned for Spanberger over the weekend.
Steve Helber/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Steve Helber/AP
And Republicans seized on revelations of text messages by Democratic candidate for attorney general, Jay Jones, in which he described the hypothetical shooting of a Republican lawmaker. Spanberger denounced the messages though Earle-Sears faulted her for not calling on Jones to drop out of the race.
Jones was in a tight race Tuesday against Republican incumbent Jason Miyares for the attorney general’s office.
Margaret Barthel covers Virginia politics for WAMU.
News
Trump Backs Cuomo, Threatens NYC Funds If Mamdani Wins – The Source with Kaitlan Collins – Podcast on CNN Podcasts
SNAP Half Covered, Alleged Terror Plot Charges, Trump’s Pardon Comments and more 5 Things
Listen to Mon, Nov 3
On your computer US
CNN 5 Things
On your mobile device
Smart speakers
World
Politics
Business
showcast
Kaitlan Collins goes straight to the source and chases the facts so you can get the very latest on The Source with Kaitlan Collins.
Trump Backs Cuomo, Threatens NYC Funds If Mamdani Wins
The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Nov 4, 2025
On the eve of the mayor’s race in New York City, President Trump just endorsed a longtime rival and a Democrat.
new video loaded: The Nationwide Battle Over Electoral Maps
By Nick Corasaniti, Alexandra Ostasiewicz, Claire Hogan, June Kim, Christina Thornell and Ashley Wu
November 3, 2025
Missouri takes on Tulane after Dowell’s 21-point game
Montana Lottery Mega Millions, Lucky For Life results for Nov. 4, 2025
Lateef joins long line of Nebraska backup QBs forced to step up
New-look Nevada routs Louisiana Tech in season opener, 77-50; Pacific up next at Lawlor
NH Lottery Mega Millions, Lucky For Life winning numbers for Nov. 4, 2025
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Democrats keep Pennsylvania Supreme Court control after 3 justices win retention races
Vetoes, reforms: Main takeaways from Euronews’ Enlargement summit
Democrat Spanberger wins Virginia governor race with message on DOGE, cost of living
Over one month into government shutdown and no end in sight – but predictions run rampant
Two dead as Typhoon Kalmaegi brings massive flooding in central Philippines
-
Milwaukee, WI1 week agoLongtime anchor Shannon Sims is leaving Milwaukee’s WTMJ-TV (Channel 4)
-
News1 week agoWith food stamps set to dry up Nov. 1, SNAP recipients say they fear what’s next
-
Alabama1 week agoHow did former Alabama basketball star Mark Sears do in NBA debut with Milwaukee Bucks?
-
Culture1 week agoVideo: Tyler Mitchell Breaks Down Three Photos From His New Book
-
News1 week ago1 dead, 6 injured in shooting at Lincoln University homecoming festivities
-
Austin, TX1 week agoDia De Los Muertos Austin: Parades, Altars & Events
-
Culture6 days agoVideo: Dissecting Three Stephen King Adaptations
-
Seattle, WA3 days agoESPN scoop adds another intriguing name to Seahawks chatter before NFL trade deadline