Who is Dana Remus? Senior counsel to President-elect Biden has a North Carolina tie
Dana Remus, a former professor at the University of North Carolina’s School of Law, was tapped for a senior staff role in the White House when President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
She will serve as Counsel to the President, Biden’s transition team announced Tuesday.
The announcement comes as the president-elect and his team have been assembling White House staff and moving forward with the transfer of power process as Biden prepares to take office on Jan. 20, 2021. The team announced several senior staff roles Tuesday, including U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond who will serve as a senior adviser and director of public engagement.
Biden is expected to announce his picks for additional White House staff roles and cabinet positions in the coming weeks.
Who is Dana Remus?
She “specialized in legal and judicial ethics and the regulation of the legal profession,” as a professor at UNC, the transition team says.
Remus served as the Biden-Harris campaign’s general counsel.
Prior to that, she worked in former President Barack Obama’s administration, where she was deputy assistant to the president and deputy counsel for ethics.
Remus was also general counsel for the Obama Foundation and for former first lady Michelle Obama’s personal office, according to the transition team.
President Obama officiated her and her husband’s wedding in 2018, McClatchy previously reported.
Before serving in Obama’s administration, she clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito, the transition team says.
The 2008 clerkship “appears to have been a good experience,” the Washingtonian reports. In 2013, she co-wrote a letter in The Washington Post defending Alito “against accusations of sexism,” Politico reports.
Alito — a member of the high court’s conservative wing — recently made remarks at the Federalist Society in which he called liberals a growing threat to religious liberty and free speech, according to The New York Times. Remus’ experience working with Alito, however, could “prove especially valuable” to the Biden administration, which faces a 6-3 conservative majority on the bench, Politico reports.
She was born in New Hampshire and graduated from Harvard College and Yale Law School.
Counsel to the President role
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,” the Federal Register says.
The counsel to the president also serves as the White House’s contact for the U.S. Department of Justice.
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 9:12 AM with the headline "Who is Dana Remus? Senior counsel to President-elect Biden has a North Carolina tie."
