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Photo: campaign.unc.edu

Who is Dana Remus?

Dana Remus is an American attorney who will serve as White House Counsel to Joe Biden when he assumes office on January 20, 2021. Prior to her role in the White House, Remus served as deputy assistant to the president and deputy counsel for ethics in the Obama administration, general counsel for the Obama Foundation, general counsel for Michelle Obama, and general counsel for the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign.

Early life and education

Dana Remus was born in New Hampshire and raised in the town of Bedford.

Remus is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian studies from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2002.

Personal life

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Obama officiates the wedding of Remus. Photo: dailymail.co.uk

Remus is married to Brett Holmgren. She married Holmgren in January 2018 in Washington, D.C. Barack Obama served as the officiant.

Career

In 2008, Remus clerked for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. She also clerked for Anthony Scirica. She eventually joined Cravath, Swaine & Moore. In 2006, she began her academic career as an inaugural faculty member at the newly established Drexel University College of Law (now Thomas R. Kline School of Law.) She also taught at the University of New Hampshire School of Law and judicial and legal ethics at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Prior to the campaign, she was General Counsel of the Obama Foundation and President and Mrs. Obama’s personal office. During the Obama-Biden administration, Remus was the Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel for Ethics. Previously, she was a Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, where she specialized in legal and judicial ethics and the regulation of the legal profession. Remus clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. and Judge Anthony J. Scirica of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and was an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

Remus joined the Obama administration, serving as Deputy Counsel for Ethics and a Deputy Assistant to Barack Obama. After Obama left office, Remus joined the Obama Foundation as general counsel and also served as counsel to Michelle Obama. During the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign, she also served as general counsel.

Biden administration

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Photo: Youtube

Remus was named White House Counsel on November 17, 2020.

As Biden’s first White House counsel, Remus will oversee the onboarding of scores of officials as they navigate background checks and ethics rules designed to disentangle them from conflicts of interest rooted in their private-sector careers.

Perkins Coie partner Marc Elias, a leading election-law lawyer, called Remus “an outstanding choice for White House Counsel.” Elias added: “She is brilliant, fair-minded, and a wonderful person. President Biden and the country will be in great hands with her as the White House’s top lawyer.”

Joshua Geltzer, founding executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, said Remus was “an extraordinary lawyer and leader who guided the Biden campaign masterfully. It’s good for us all as Americans to have Dana headed back to the White House.”

Role of Counsel To The President

The Office of the Counsel to the President is tasked with advising the president on the legal aspects of policy — including legal issues related to a president’s decision to sign or veto legislation.

The office advises on “ethical questions, financial disclosures and conflicts of interest during employment and post-employment,” according to the Federal Register.

“The Counsel’s Office also helps define the line between official and political activities, oversees executive appointments and judicial selection, handles Presidential pardons, reviews legislation and Presidential statements and handles lawsuits against the President in his role as President,” according to the Federal Register.

The counsel to the president also serves as the White House’s contact for the U.S. Department of Justice.
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