Rachel L. Brand was sworn in as Associate Attorney General on May 22, 2017, after confirmation by the Senate. As Associate Attorney General, she serves as the third-ranking officer in the Department of Justice and oversees the following Department components: Antitrust Division, Civil Division, Civil Rights Division, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Tax Division, Executive Office for U.S. Trustees, Office of Justice Programs, Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), Office on Violence Against Women, Community Relations Service, Office of Access to Justice, Office of Information Policy, Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, and the Service members and Veterans Initiative. She also serves as the Department's Regulatory Reform Officer and chairs the Regulatory Reform Task Force.
Prior to becoming Associate Attorney General, Ms. Brand had a diverse legal career in public service and outside of government. From 2012 – 2017, she has served as one of five Senate-confirmed Members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, appointed by President Obama. In that capacity, she provided advice and oversight to U.S. counterterrorism agencies to ensure that privacy and civil liberties are balanced with national security objectives.
Ms. Brand previously served in the Department of Justice from 2003 – 2007, first as the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy, and then as the Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy, appointed by President George W. Bush. In that capacity, Ms. Brand served as chief policy adviser to the Attorney General, handling a broad range of national security, law enforcement, and civil justice issues. She also oversaw the development of all regulations promulgated by the Department of Justice and managed the Department's role in selecting federal judges, including running the confirmation process for Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito. Earlier, Ms. Brand was an Associate Counsel to President George W. Bush in the White House.
Outside of the federal government, Ms. Brand has been an Associate Professor of law at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School, an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School, and a lawyer in private practice in Washington, D.C.
She served as a law clerk to Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 2002 – 2003 Term and to Justice Charles Fried of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Ms. Brand graduated from Harvard Law School, where she served as deputy editor-in-chief of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and earned a B.A. from the University of Minnesota-Morris.
February 2018 DC Luncheon with Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand
Tony Cheng's Restaurant619 H Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20001
Lunch with Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand
Vincenzo's150 South 5th Street
Louisville, KY 40202
Discussion with Associate AG Brand
DC Young Lawyers Chapter
The University Club1135 16th St NW
Washington, DC 20036
Race and Sex: Prime Movers of the Expansion of the Administrative State?
2017 National Lawyers Convention
The Mayflower Hotel - East Room1127 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20036
Regulatory Theory: Preemptive Rule-making vs. Common Law Redress
Fourth Annual Executive Branch Review Conference
The Mayflower Hotel1127 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
Race and Sex: Prime Movers of the Expansion of the Administrative State?
2017 National Lawyers Convention
Advocates of limited government are sometimes accused of being blind to issues of race and...
Race and Sex: Prime Movers of the Expansion of the Administrative State?
2017 National Lawyers Convention
Advocates of limited government are sometimes accused of being blind to issues of race and...
Regulatory Theory: Preemptive Rule-making vs. Common Law Redress
Fourth Annual Executive Branch Review Conference
What regulatory approach best fosters commercial innovation? Traditionally, it had been thought that ex post,...
Regulatory Theory: Preemptive Rule-making vs. Common Law Redress
Fourth Annual Executive Branch Review Conference
What regulatory approach best fosters commercial innovation? Traditionally, it had been thought that ex post,...
Litigation: Ten Years of the Roberts Court
2015 National Lawyers Convention
It has been ten years since John Roberts was appointed as the 17th Chief Justice...