The Office of Legal Policy (OLP) is responsible for developing policy initiatives of high priority to the Department and the Administration. The Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy serves as the primary policy advisor to the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General. As the Department’s think tank, OLP provides a space distinct from the Department’s day-to-day work for long-term planning that anticipates and helps to shape the terms of national debate on a wide range of forthcoming legal policy questions.

OLP also performs a high-level coordination role within the Department. OLP often handles special projects that implicate the interests of multiple Department components, and it coordinates the regulatory development and review of all proposed and final rules developed by the Department.

Further, OLP advises and assists the President and the Attorney General in the selection and confirmation of federal judges. It oversees the Department's process for vetting, interviewing, evaluating and seeking confirmation of the nation's judiciary, in close consultation with the White House Counsel.

As of January 20, 2009, Kevin R. Jones is the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy, pending the confirmation of a new Assistant Attorney General.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Remarks by Attorney General Eric Holder at the Advocates and Leaders for Police and Community Trust Awards Dinner in Detroit, Michigan on November 19, 2009

Statement of Attorney General Eric Holder before the Senate Judiciary Committee on November 18, 2009 entitled "Oversight of the Department of Justice.

Remarks by Attorney General Eric Holder about the Department's Indigent Defense Initiative at the Brennan Center for Justice Legacy Awards Dinner on November 16, 2009.

Attorney General Delivers the keynote address at the Vera Institute of Justice in New York City on July 9, 2009.

Statement of Attorney General Eric H. Holder before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary concerning the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 on June 25, 2009.

Statement of Rajesh De, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy before the U.S. House of Representative’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform concerning H.R. 1507, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2009 on May 14, 2009. Click here for his statement before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia concerning S. 372, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2009 on June 11, 2009.