The pairing of several Democrats and Republicans at Tuesday’s State of the Union address provided a visual representation of President Barack Obama’s high hopes for bipartisanship.
Some critics may doubt the substance behind Tuesday’s gesture. But for one Duke graduate, legislators’ future ability to compromise holds special significance. Obama nominated alumna Virginia Seitz, Trinity ’78, to head the Office of Legal Counsel Jan. 5, but her confirmation lies in the hands of the Senate—and will serve as a test for the viability of a less partisan government.
If Seitz is confirmed as the assistant attorney general for the OLC, she will be its first Senate-confirmed head since Jack Goldsmith, who left the office in 2003. After failing to gain Senate confirmation, Obama’s original nominee for the position, Dawn Johnsen, withdrew in April 2010.
“Very candidly, the problem was that Dawn was looked upon by the Republicans as being too liberal,” said Scott Silliman, executive director of the School of Law’s Center on Law, Ethics and National Security. “The Republican members of the Judiciary Committee were going to block her.”
The OLC, which provides legal advice to the president and to all other executive branch agencies, entered the national spotlight during President George W. Bush’s administration for drafting a set of controversial legal opinions. Using an expansive interpretation of presidential power, the so-called “Torture Memos” nullified laws prohibiting torture and domestic surveillance during the War on Terror. Obama denounced the memos in 2009.
Despite the ample bad press the memos gave the OLC, Silliman said he believes the office is back to its rightful place of giving authoritative legal guidance to the executive branch.
Difficult though the assistant attorney general job may be, Seitz’s many academic accomplishments indicate that she is well qualified for the position.
Seitz left Duke with copious achievements in hand—graduating summa cum laude with distinction in history, an induction into Phi Beta Kappa and the opportunity to continue her education at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Seven years later, she was valedictorian of her class at the University of Buffalo Law School.
Her credentials as a lawyer are no less illustrious.
“Virginia has an exceptional background in the law,” Peter Keisler, a partner at the Washington, D.C. branch of Sidley Austin LLP where Seitz works, wrote in an e-mail. “She clerked on the Supreme Court, and then she went on to build a highly successful law practice.”
Seitz has also represented a wide range of clients, including the Major League Baseball Players Association, retired military officers, major corporations, state governments and American Indian tribes, Keisler added.
Perhaps Seitz’s most famous contribution, however, was her authorship of an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger. Seitz represented a group of retired military officers, arguing that service academies would have more difficulty building a diverse officer corps if affirmative action at government universities were unconstitutional.
“It’s rare to find something new to say on either side about an issue that had been as exhaustively discussed over as many years as affirmative action had been. But the brief Virginia filed stood out among the throng and said something new,” Keisler wrote.
Seitz has also been a leader for women on an issue that hits close to home. By having a successful part-time career, Seitz has shown that it is possible to balance a family and professional aspirations.
“She’s generally in the office by 6:00 or 6:30 each weekday morning, and most days leaves by early afternoon. And she accomplishes more on a part-time schedule than most of us do on a full-time schedule,” Keisler wrote.
Although Seitz was nominated earlier this month, her confirmation process has not begun. The chairman of a committee in the Senate controls when her nomination comes before the Senate, so it is difficult to guess when Seitz’s hearings may take place. The process can sometimes be short—a matter of weeks, even—but often spans a longer period, Silliman said.
Some conservatives have cited Seitz’s lack of national security experience as a potential problem that could bar her confirmation. Silliman, however, does not think that will be a problem.
“She is very well-versed in constitutional law, and I think that’s significant,” Silliman said. “National security law depends an awful lot on constitutional law for its answers.”
If Seitz is selected for the position, Silliman noted that other OLC attorneys would specialize in national security issues, adding that the office recieves many questions unrelated to national security law.
Time will tell if the OLC will receive its first Senate-confirmed leader since the Bush-era Goldsmith. But those closest to Seitz do not think the White House could come up with a better nominee.
“What you want most of all in this job is someone of great legal experience and legal judgment, someone of complete and absolute integrity and someone of a judicious and non-partisan temperament. That’s Virginia Seitz,” Keisler wrote.
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