Jeffrey A. Rosen


Jeffrey Adam Rosen is an American lawyer who is the current United States Deputy Attorney General. Prior to assuming his current role, he was a senior partner at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis and was the United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation.

Education

Rosen graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts in economics in 1979. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, receiving his Juris Doctor in 1982.

Career

Rosen joined Kirkland & Ellis in 1982. He left the firm in 2003 and began working for the U.S. government. From 2003 to 2006, Rosen was general counsel at the United States Department of Transportation and acted as counsel for Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. In 2006, Rosen moved to the Office of Management and Budget where he was general counsel and senior policy advisor until 2009. While at the OMB, criticized "regulatory overreach" and opposed EPA plans to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. He also served as a representative of the U.S. government on the board of directors of Amtrak.
Rosen returned to Kirkland & Ellis in 2009. From 2015 to 2016, Rosen chaired the American Bar Association's Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice.
On May 16, 2017, Rosen was confirmed as United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation by a 56–42 vote. There he served under Secretary Elaine Chao.
On February 19, 2019, President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Rosen for the position of United States Deputy Attorney General, succeeding Rod Rosenstein upon his departure from the Department of Justice. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 16 by a vote of 52–45. His nomination to become the second-highest law enforcement official was unusual, as Rosen had no previous prosecutorial experience. Attorney General William Barr had urged Trump to choose Rosen as his deputy. Rosen was sworn in on May 22, 2019.
In June 2019, Rosen sent a letter to New York state prosecutors inquiring into the case of Paul Manafort and indicating that he would be monitoring where Manafort would be held in custody. Shortly thereafter, federal prison officials informed New York state prosecutors that Manafort would not be held in Rikers Island. Current and former prosecutors described this decision as unusual, because most individuals held in custody while awaiting federal trial are held in Rikers Island, a prison with a reputation for violence and mismanagement.