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D. John Sauer

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John Sauer
Official portrait, 2025
49th Solicitor General of the United States
Incumbent
Assumed office
April 4, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded bySarah M. Harris (acting)
Solicitor General of Missouri
In office
January 9, 2017 – January 3, 2023
GovernorEric Greitens
Mike Parson
Preceded byJames Layton
Succeeded byJosh Divine
Personal details
Born
Dean John Sauer

(1974-11-13) November 13, 1974 (age 50)
Education
Sauer's voice
Sauer's opening statement before the Supreme Court in Trump v. CASA.
Recorded May 15, 2025

Dean John Sauer (/saʊər/; born November 13, 1974) is an American lawyer who has served as the solicitor general of the United States since 2025. He previously served as Solicitor General of Missouri from 2017 to 2023 and represented Donald Trump in his successful appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump v. United States.

Early life and education

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Sauer was born on November 13, 1974, to a prominent St. Louis family in business and politics.[1] He attended Saint Louis Priory School, a Catholic secondary day school for boys in Creve Coeur, Missouri, run by the Benedictine monks of Saint Louis Abbey.

Sauer graduated from Duke University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering. He then won a Rhodes Scholarship to study in England at the University of Oxford, where he earned a second Bachelor of Arts in theology from Oriel College, Oxford, in 1999.[2][3]

In 2000, Sauer obtained a Master of Arts in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. He then entered Harvard Law School, where he was the articles editor of the Harvard Law Review, and graduated magna cum laude in 2004 with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree.[4]

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After law school, Sauer was a law clerk to Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 2004 to 2005 and to U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia from 2005 to 2006.

Sauer worked as a litigation associate at Cooper & Kirk and then became an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri.[5]

In the spring semesters between 2011 and 2013, he was an adjunct professor at the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis.[6] He later reentered private practice.[5] From 2013 to 2015, he was a partner at Clark & Sauer, LLC.

In 2015, Sauer defended a priest accused of sexually abusing children. Sauer helped the priest sue his accusers and the police officers who were involved.[7] Prosecutors had dropped all charges against the priest, and the priest's record has since been fully expunged.[8][9] Sauer prevailed in the civil lawsuits related to the accusations.[7]

Missouri solicitor general

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In January 2017, then-Missouri attorney general Josh Hawley appointed Sauer Solicitor General of Missouri.[10]

On December 10, 2020, as Solicitor General Counsel of Record, Sauer signed the "Motion of States of Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, And Utah To Intervene And Proposed Bill of Complaint In Intervention" in an attempt to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election.[11] The motion sought to intervene and join the Texas Bill of Complaint (filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton), to prevent the selection of presidential electors based upon the November election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Michigan.[12]

In January 2023, Missouri attorney general Andrew Bailey appointed Sauer Deputy Attorney General for Special Litigation.[13][14] Sauer resigned from his post less than a month later, on January 27, 2023.[15]

In July 2023, Sauer testified before a U.S. House Subcommittee as the Louisiana Department of Justice Special Assistant Attorney General. [16]

Representing Donald Trump

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On January 9, 2024, he represented former president Donald Trump in oral arguments before a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit regarding the issue of presidential immunity in the criminal case of United States of America v. Donald J. Trump.[17]

At the hearing, in response to a hypothetical question posed by Judge Florence Y. Pan about whether a U.S. President could order SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival and be immune from prosecution,[18] Sauer argued that the impeachment clause in Article II, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution[19] implies that the Senate must first impeach and convict before a president can be criminally prosecuted, and that acquittal bars prosecution.[20] Sauer stated that this type of prosecution of a former president "would authorize, for example, the indictment of President Biden in the Western District of Texas after he leaves office for mismanaging the border allegedly".[21]

U.S. solicitor general

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In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Sauer to serve as solicitor general of the United States.[22] His nomination was confirmed by the Senate on April 4, 2025, by a vote of 52–45.[23] He took office the same day.[24]

In May 2025, Sauer asked the Supreme Court of the United States to include DOGE as a "presidential advisory body" within the Executive Office of the President.[25] Also that month, during a legal case regarding birthright citizenship in the United States, Sauer told the Supreme Court regarding rulings from United States circuit courts that the executive branch "generally respect circuit precedent, but not necessarily in every case".[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Wagman, Paul (June 9, 2022). "D. John Sauer: Scion of a well-known and powerful St. Louis family". Gateway Journalism Review. Retrieved March 15, 2025.
  2. ^ "Duke University Alumni Magazine". Duke. August 1, 1998. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  3. ^ "32 American College Students Are Named Rhodes Scholars". The New York Times. Associated Press. December 9, 1996. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  4. ^ Parker, Shannon (January 29, 2009). "LN Ten Most Interesting: John Sauer". Laude News. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "WULS: Faculty Profiles". Washington University School of Law. June 15, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  6. ^ "UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY" (PDF).
  7. ^ a b "Jiang v. Porter et al". Justia Dockets & Filings.
  8. ^ "Abuse charges dropped against St. Louis priest". Fox2 Now. Associated Press. June 17, 2015.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ McKeown, Jonah (August 30, 2022). "Priest to have arrest record expunged after abuse cases dropped". Catholic News Agency.
  10. ^ Mannies, Jo (February 10, 2017). "Missouri Attorney General Hawley addresses Democrats' residency concerns, rents apartment". KWMU. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  11. ^ "MOTION OF STATES OF MISSOURI, ARKANSAS, LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, SOUTH CAROLINA, AND UTAH TO INTERVENE AND PROPOSED BILL OF COMPLAINT IN INTERVENTION, December 10, 2020" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States.
  12. ^ "AG Paxton Sues Battleground States for Unconstitutional Changes to 2020 Election Laws". Office of the Attorney General of Texas.
  13. ^ Faughn, Scott (December 22, 2022). "Bailey brings on national conservative figure, Josh Divine as Solicitor General". The Missouri Times.
  14. ^ "Missouri's new attorney general to be sworn-in today". 93.9 the Eagle. November 23, 2022.
  15. ^ Crowe, Jack (January 27, 2023). "Legal Resistance to Biden Administration in Doubt as Powerhouse AG Offices Stumble". National Review.
  16. ^ "Louisiana Department of Justice Special Assistant Attorney General D. John Sauer testifies during a House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing on Capitol Hill July 20, 2023". ALAMY. July 20, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  17. ^ "District of Columbia Circuit Court Oral Arguments on Former President Trump's Immunity Claims". C-SPAN. January 9, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  18. ^ Breuninger, Kevin; Mangan, Dan (January 9, 2024). "Trump Hearing Live Updates: Lawyer for ex-president argues immunity for official acts is absolute". CNBC. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  19. ^ "ArtII.S4.1 Overview of Impeachment Clause". U.S. Congress. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  20. ^ Liptak, Adam (January 12, 2024). "Trump's Boldest Argument Yet: Immunity From Prosecution for Assassinations". The New York Times. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  21. ^ Hurley, Lawrence; Barnes, Daniel; Reilly, Ryan J. (January 9, 2024). "Judges skeptical of Trump's immunity appeal at court hearing in 2020 election interference case". NBC News. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  22. ^ Wegmann, Philip [@PhilipWegmann] (November 14, 2024). "News: Trump announces former Rep. Doug Collins as his nominee to be Veterans Affairs secretary" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ^ "PN12-39 - Nomination of Dean Sauer for Department of Justice, 119th Congress (2025-2026)". www.congress.gov. April 3, 2025. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
  24. ^ "Office of the Solicitor General | Solicitor General D. John Sauer | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. April 28, 2025. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  25. ^ Sherman, Mark (May 21, 2025). "Trump administration asks Supreme Court to block watchdog access to DOGE documents". AP News. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  26. ^ Strawbridge Robinson, Kimberly (May 16, 2025). "Trump Solicitor General Hedges on Always Following Court Orders". Bloomberg Law. Archived from the original on June 10, 2025. Retrieved June 10, 2025.
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Preceded by Solicitor General of the United States
2025–present 		Incumbent
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