Solicitor General Pushing Justices to Take More Cases Uninvited

Bloomberg Law quoted Covington partner Sarah Harrington, co-chair of the firm's Appellate and Supreme Court litigation group, in an article examining how U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer's office has filed at least six unsolicited briefs urging the Supreme Court to take up cases aligned with the Trump administration's policy agenda — a pace far exceeding prior administrations.

Sarah, who served in the Solicitor General's office from 2009 to 2017, told Bloomberg Law that many of the unsolicited filings "have appeared less motivated by federal interests and more by policy preferences of the administration." She noted that the office has traditionally avoided such filings both to preserve its credibility and to maintain the high bar for granting certiorari. "The more you weigh in in favor of cert grants, there's a potential you're diluting the strong institutional view that cert should not be granted in most cases," she said. Sarah also cautioned that increased lobbying of the court could encourage more litigants to seek the Solicitor General's support, "potentially adding to the office's already heavy workload."