The conservative constitutional lawyer from Missouri was chosen for the position by Trump after winning a landmark Supreme Court ruling that ultimately scuttled ex-Special Counsel Jack Smith’s hopes to prosecute Trump for his conduct seeking to overturn the 2020 election.
President Donald Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer D. John Sauer won Senate confirmation by a party-line vote Thursday to become the next U.S. solicitor general, where he will serve as the Trump administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer in the coming legal battles over the president’s policies.
By a narrow 52-45 Senate vote, Republicans were able to finalize Sauer’s ascent to the head of the office of U.S. solicitor general, a position sometimes referred to as the “Tenth Justice” for its historical standing in the Supreme Court bar as representing the legal positions of the U.S. government. Three senators were absent from the vote.
