--- title: Donald Trump: Solicitor General Fight Shows Big Choice description: Two men are in an intense competition for one of the most important positions in the Justice Department: Solicitor General. canonical: https://time.com/4648756/donald-trump-solicitor-general-supreme-court/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-25T19:14:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:14:42.971Z article:section: Politics og:title: Inside Trump’s Other Big Supreme Court Decision og:description: Culture warrior or corporate lawyer? og:url: https://time.com/4648756/donald-trump-solicitor-general-supreme-court/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cf0791cb138173c/6988b7282dce0182689ec07e/supreme-court.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5616 og:image:height: 3159 og:image:alt: Washington, D.C. Cityscapes And City Views og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Inside Trump’s Other Big Supreme Court Decision twitter:description: Culture warrior or corporate lawyer? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cf0791cb138173c/6988b7282dce0182689ec07e/supreme-court.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump’s Other Big Supreme Court Decision: Culture Warrior or Corporate Lawyer? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=c21b5de6-2c85-437a-8cd4-c3cebba9d689&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Weekdays | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Weekly | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Twice a week | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=c21b5de6-2c85-437a-8cd4-c3cebba9d689&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=c21b5de6-2c85-437a-8cd4-c3cebba9d689&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (health, weekdays), Worth Your Time (culture, weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=c21b5de6-2c85-437a-8cd4-c3cebba9d689&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch For Supreme Court [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch For Supreme Court](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EA1urb8K.m3u8) (3:09)  _Published 2017-02-01. President Trump announced Tuesday that he has nominated to the Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch, a federal judge in Colorado with a similar writing style and outlook on the Constitution as the late Justice Antonin Scalia._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 25, 2017 7:14 PM UTC  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 25, 2017 7:14 PM UTC Chuck Cooper is a veteran of the culture wars with a long legal career arguing hot-button social issues cases before the Supreme Court. In 1982, he wrote a brief on a case arguing in favor of giving tax breaks to private schools that discriminated based on race; in 2013, he defended California’s ban on same-sex marriage. George Conway, by contrast, is the consummate New York corporate lawyer. With a long career at the white-shoe firm of Wachtell Lipton, Conway has specialized in the very cosmopolitan area of securities litigation. He has only argued before the Supreme Court once, winning a unanimous decision on an important but decidedly un-sexy securities law case involving an Australian bank. Now the two men are embroiled in a quiet but fierce competition behind the scenes for one of the most important but least known positions in the Justice Department: Solicitor General. Both are finalists for the post, sources say, and the outcome of the contest will matter. Long-called the “tenth Justice,” the Solicitor General represents the federal government in Supreme Court cases, and has broad authority in picking which cases to fight and which sides to take. “The choice of SG is a huge thing,” says Lisa Blatt, a partner at Arnold & Porter, Kaye Scholer LLP who has argued 34 cases before the Supreme Court. “They’re the face of the Administration before one of our branches of government. It’s the face of the United States.” Making the contest particularly intense is the fact that Cooper and Conway both have close personal ties to the new Administration. A D.C. insider, Cooper is a longtime friend of [Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions](http://time.com/4630738/jeff-sessions-donald-trump-attorney-general-hearing/?iid=sr-link7). Conway is married to Kellyanne Conway, one of President Trump’s most trusted advisers. But the contest is about more than connections: in some ways it’s a pick between two sides of President Trump’s own political identity—hardline conservatism on social issues or a background in business. Which is why, as President Trump [prepares to name his first Supreme Court nominee](http://time.com/4645504/donald-trump-supreme-court-pick-reveal/?iid=sr-link6), people inside the Beltway are watching the Solicitor General race for signs of which way Trump’s judicial appointments will go. Cooper is the more conservative choice of the two on social issues, which could make him a natural pick for a president who broke with the tradition of not applying litmus tests to judges and promised a staunchly pro-life justice for his first Supreme Court pick. Cooper is perhaps best known for defending Proposition 8, California’s ban on gay marriage, before the Supreme Court in 2013\. (Cooper’s daughter has since married a woman, and he has said his views on same-sex marriage [are evolving](http://time.com/67528/prop-8-lawyer-charles-cooper-gay-marriage-views/).) Charles Fried, who served as Solicitor General under President Ronald Reagan from 1985 to 1989, says he’s “very fond” of Cooper, who worked in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and then in the Office of Legal Counsel at the time. “He’s a true movement conservative, no question about it,” Fried said. “We had a lot of fights, because he wanted to go much further than I did… So we shouted at each other. But it’s all right, I always liked it.” Fried cited a case from 1989 as an example: the Supreme Court held in _City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co._ that the city’s minority set-aside program, which gave preference to minority-owned businesses in awarding municipal contracts, was unconstitutional. Fried says Cooper was a “vigorous advocate” for his boss William Bradford Reynolds’ position at the time, which was that any remedy for racial discrimination has to be victim-specific. In other words, if there is evidence of racial discrimination in a program, the only person entitled to a remedy is the one who has been actually discriminated against. (Affirmative action, for example, does not fit this view.) But it’s a different case from Cooper’s years working under Reynolds in the Department of Justice that could come back to haunt him in the nomination process. In 1982, Cooper helped get the Reagan Administration reverse a federal policy that denied tax exemptions to segregated private schools. The issue made its way to the Supreme Court with Bob Jones University, a school that had imposed a ban interracial dating. Cooper and Reynolds both [signed a brief](http://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/27/us/top-lawyer-dissents-in-brief-on-tax-exemptions.html) arguing in favor of giving tax breaks to schools that discriminate on the basis of race. The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 against them. Still, in Cooper’s career spanning from his time in the Civil Rights Division and the Office of Legal Counsel to now as a founding member and chairman of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, many who know him say his pointed legal positions don’t translate to personal relationships. “He’s unfailingly polite,” says John Malcolm at the Heritage Foundation. “He’s not a flamethrower kind of guy.” While Cooper is an insider of the Washington legal scene, Conway is a New Yorker, currently a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz while also managing things at home with four children as his wife, Kellyanne, assumes a role in the White House. His relative lack of experience with the Supreme Court and federal government would in certain ways make him an unconventional pick for the job, but then again, Trump likes outsiders. A person with knowledge of Conway’s vetting process said he hasn’t met with Trump about becoming Solicitor General, but he did speak to Sessions for about an hour in December about the position. Conway is an expert in securities litigation, arguing for his only time before the Supreme Court in 2010 in _Morrison v. National Australia Bank_ _._ The Court ruled unanimously in favor of Conway’s side, holding that the Securities and Exchange Act does not apply to investment deals that occur outside the country, even if they have an impact in the U.S. Robert Giuffra, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, says Conway’s broad background in litigation areas like securities, mergers and acquisitions and contracts makes him a Solicitor General pick who could be uniquely suited to the new Commander-in-Chief. “For a president with a business-oriented perspective who wants to pick someone who will be a Solicitor General for business and economic issues, George Conway would have to be at the top of your list,” he says. More broadly, Conway’s legal expertise could help him fit into the new political landscape being formed under Trump. “I think he would be able to talk the same language as the business lawyers \[and\] the people the Administration is populating Washington with,” says Lewis Liman, a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP who has known Conway since they were classmates at Yale Law School. While Conway’s professional background doesn’t overlap with many social issues, acquaintances say Conway is relatively moderate on those topics. “George has a lot of different friends across the political spectrum in the legal community,” says one litigator in New York who has worked closely with Conway. “I’ve never considered him to be a hardcore right-winger, I’ve just considered him to have a somewhat more conservative outlook.” Echoes Liman: “I don’t view him as an ideologue.” Those who know both lawyers say that either of them would prioritize pragmatism and fine legal reasoning over idealism in facing a 5-4 split Court. “I believe in what I would call the Rex Lee test for Solicitor General,” says Richard Bernstein, an attorney at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. “He was Reagan’s very conservative Solicitor General but he was not a polemicist. He didn’t go down in flames losing a case just to make the people in the peanut gallery happy. And I think from my dealings with \[Cooper and Conway\], they’re incredibly talented and honest people, honest about the current state of the law, and honest in describing the facts. I think they both pass the Rex Lee test.” Trump’s pick could also end up signaling something more concrete than a vision for the Justice Department: the Solicitor General post can be a launching pad for a seat on the Supreme Court. (One current justice, Elena Kagan, served as Solicitor General before her appointment.) So even as Trump prepares to announce his lead-off batter for the highest court in the land, D.C. insiders are watching who may be moving into the on-deck circle. ## Transcript When Justice Kalia passed away suddenly last February, I made a promise to the American people. If I were elected President, I would find the very best judge in the country for the Supreme Court. I promised to select someone who respects our laws. And is representative of our constitution, and who loves our constitution. And someone who will interpret them as written. Today, I am keeping another promise to the American people by nominating Judge Neil Gorsuch of the United States Supreme Court to be of. The United States Supreme Court. I took the task of this nomination very seriously. I have selected an individual whose qualities define really, and I mean closely define, what we're looking for. Judge Gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline, and has earned bipartisan support. Mr. President, thank you very much. Mr. President, Mr. Vice- President, you and your team have shown me great courtesy in this process. And you've entrusted me with a most solemn assignment. Standing here in a house of history, and acutely aware of my own imperfections. I pledge that if I am confirmed, I will do all my powers permit to be a faithful servant of the constitution and laws of this great country. The towering judges that have served in this particular seat of the Supreme Court, including Anton Scalia and Robert Jackson, are much in my mind at this moment. Justice Scalia was a lion of the law. Agree or disagree with him, all of his colleagues in the bench shares his wisdom and his humor, and like them I miss him. I consider the United States Senate the greatest deliberant body in the world and I respect the important role the constitution affords it in the confirmation of our judges. I respect too the fact that in our legal order, it is for Congress and not the courts to write new laws. It is a role of judges to apply not alter the work of the people's representatives. A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge. [ LAUGH ] Stretching for results he prefers rather than those the law demands. I am so thankful tonight for my family, my friends, and my faith. These are the things that keep me grounded at life's peaks and that sustained me in its valleys. To Louise, my incredible wife and companion Of 20 years. My cherished daughters who are watching on TV. [ LAUGH ] And all my family and friends. I cannot thank you enough for your love and for your prayers, I could not attempt this without you. Mr. President, I am honored and I humbled. Thank you very much. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4648756/donald-trump-solicitor-general-supreme-court/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4648756/donald-trump-solicitor-general-supreme-court/"},"headline":"President Trump’s Other Big Supreme Court Decision: Culture Warrior or Corporate Lawyer?","datePublished":"2017-01-25T19:14:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-07T07:14:42.971Z","description":"Two men are in an intense competition for one of the most important positions in the Justice Department: Solicitor General.","url":"https://time.com/4648756/donald-trump-solicitor-general-supreme-court/","keywords":["Justice Department","Supreme Court","White House","justice","Donald Trump","kellyanne conway"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cf0791cb138173c/6988b7282dce0182689ec07e/supreme-court.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cf0791cb138173c/6988b7282dce0182689ec07e/supreme-court.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Washington, D.C. Cityscapes And City Views","caption":"Washington, D.C. Cityscapes And City Views","creditText":"Raymond Boyd—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/justice-department/","name":"Justice Department"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4648756/donald-trump-solicitor-general-supreme-court/","name":"President Trump’s Other Big Supreme Court Decision: Culture Warrior or Corporate Lawyer?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch For Supreme Court","description":"President Trump announced Tuesday that he has nominated to the Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch, a federal judge in Colorado with a similar writing style and outlook on the Constitution as the late Justice Antonin Scalia.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EA1urb8K/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-02-01T01:58:53.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EA1urb8K.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4648756/donald-trump-solicitor-general-supreme-court/","duration":"PT3M9S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4648756/donald-trump-solicitor-general-supreme-court/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```