DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice and the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. The position oversees all federal prosecution, the FBI, the DEA, the ATF, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Prisons, and the Civil Rights Division. The AG sets national prosecution priorities, issues binding legal guidance to federal agencies, controls which cases the federal government pursues and which it declines, and determines how broadly or narrowly federal law is enforced. The office also oversees the Foreign Agents Registration Act, federal civil rights enforcement, antitrust prosecution, and the conduct of federal investigations. Because the AG controls what the federal government investigates and prosecutes, the independence or non-independence of the office from White House direction is among the most consequential structural questions in American governance. This section documents who has held the office across three administrations, their confirmation votes, key policy actions, documented ethics findings, and the circumstances of their departures. Sources are drawn from DOJ official records, Inspector General reports, congressional testimony, and verified investigative reporting. The archive will expand as additional records are completed.