{{Short description|American federal judge (born 1964)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Gregory G. Katsas | image = Greg Katsas.jpg | caption = Official portrait, 2008 | office = Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit | appointer = Donald Trump | term_start = December 8, 2017 | term_end = | predecessor = Janice Rogers Brown | successor = | office1 = United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division | president1 = George W. Bush | term_start1 = July 2008 | term_end1 = January 20, 2009 | predecessor1 = Peter Keisler | successor1 = Tony West | office2 = United States Associate Attorney General | status2 = Acting | president2 = George W. Bush | term_start2 = June 22, 2007 | term_end2 = April 2008 | predecessor2 = William W. Mercer (acting) | successor2 = Kevin O'Connor | birth_name = Gregory George Katsas | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1964|8|6}} | birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | party = Republican | education = Princeton University (BA)<br>Harvard University (JD) }} '''Gregory George Katsas''' (born August 6, 1964) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Karuppur|first1=Abhiram|title=Katsas '86 named Deputy Counsel and Deputy Assistant to President Trump|url=http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2017/03/katsas-named-deputy-general-counsel-at-whitehouse |access-date=November 18, 2017|work=Daily Princetonian|date=March 7, 2017}}</ref> He was appointed in 2017 by President Donald Trump. Before his appointment to the bench, Katsas served as Deputy White House Counsel in the first Trump administration, as an assistant attorney general in the United States Department of Justice, and as a partner at the law firm Jones Day.
== Early life and education == Katsas was born on August 6, 1964, in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were Greek immigrants.<ref>[https://vettingroom.org/tag/greg-katsas/ Profile of Gregory Katsas]. VettingRoom.com. Retrieved November 17, 2017.</ref> Katsas graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts, ''cum laude'', in philosophy. He then attended Harvard Law School, where he was an executive editor of the ''Harvard Law Review'' and an editor of the ''Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.harvard-jlpp.com/about/ |title=About|website=Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy|date=March 24, 2009|access-date=April 3, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Katsas%20SJQ.pdf|title=United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Gregory George Katsas}}</ref><ref name="whitehouse" /> He graduated in 1989 with a Juris Doctor, ''cum laude''.
==Career== After law school, Katsas was a law clerk to Judge Edward R. Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1989 to 1990. From 1990 to 1991, Katsas clerked for Clarence Thomas, who was then a judge of the District of Columbia Circuit. After President George H. W. Bush appointed Thomas to the United States Supreme Court in 1991, Katsas again clerked for Thomas from 1991 to 1992.<ref name=benchmemos>{{cite news|last1=Severino|first1=Carrie|title=Who is Gregory Katsas?|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/451153/who-greg-katsas|access-date=November 18, 2017|work=National Review|date=September 7, 2017}}</ref><ref name="whitehouse"/>
Katsas then entered private practice at the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm Jones Day, where he specialized in civil and appellate litigation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gregory Katsas to rejoin Jones Day|url=http://m.jonesday.com/gregory-katsas-to-rejoin-jones-day-10-29-2009/|publisher=Jones Day|access-date=November 18, 2017|date=October 2009|archive-date=July 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722184911/http://m.jonesday.com/gregory-katsas-to-rejoin-jones-day-10-29-2009/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He argued more than 75 appeals, including three cases in the U.S. Supreme Court.<ref name="whitehouse">{{cite web|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2017/09/07/president-donald-j-trump-announces-seventh-wave-judicial-candidates|title=President Donald J. Trump Announces Seventh Wave of Judicial Candidates|date=September 7, 2017|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=September 8, 2017}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> He was at Jones Day from 1992 to 2001, becoming a partner in 1999.<ref name=benchmemos/>
From 2001 to 2009, Katsas served in various positions within the United States Department of Justice, including assistant attorney general for the Civil Division and Acting associate attorney general.<ref name="whitehouse"/> Katsas returned to Jones Day from 2009 to 2017. From January to December 2017, Katsas served as deputy White House counsel.
=== Federal judicial service === On September 7, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Katsas to serve as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to the seat vacated by Judge Janice Rogers Brown, who retired on August 31, 2017.<ref name="whitehouse2">{{cite web|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2017/09/07/eight-nominations-sent-senate-today|title=Eight Nominations Sent to the Senate Today|date=September 7, 2017|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=September 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Marimow|first1=Ann E.|title=Trump taps White House legal adviser to serve on high-profile D.C. Circuit|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/trump-taps-white-house-legal-adviser-to-serve-on-high-profile-dc-appeals-court/2017/09/07/07c67b98-93e2-11e7-8754-d478688d23b4_story.html|access-date=November 18, 2017|newspaper=Washington Post |date=September 7, 2017}}</ref>
On October 17, 2017, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/10/17/2017/nominations|title=Nominations | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|website=www.judiciary.senate.gov}}</ref> On November 9, 2017, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–9 vote.<ref>[https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/11-9-17%20Results%20of%20Executive%20Business%20Meeting.pdf Results of Executive Business Meeting – November 9, 2017, Senate Judiciary Committee]</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Schneier|first1=Cogan|title=More Than 200 Civil Rights Groups Oppose DC Circuit Nominee Greg Katsas|url=https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/sites/nationallawjournal/2017/11/07/more-than-200-civil-rights-groups-oppose-d-c-circuit-nominee-greg-katsas/|access-date=November 18, 2017|work=Law.com|date=November 7, 2017}}</ref>
On November 27, 2017, the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 52–48 vote.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1151/vote_115_1_00282.htm?congress=115&session=1&vote=00282|title=U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 115th Congress - 1st Session|website=www.senate.gov}}</ref> On November 28, 2017, by a party line vote except for John Neely Kennedy R-LA<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/28/kennedy-trump-judicial-nominee-267815|title=Louisiana GOP Sen. Kennedy opposes controversial Trump judicial nominee|website=Politico |date=November 28, 2017 }}</ref> and Joe Manchin D-WV, with Bob Corker and John McCain absent, Katsas was confirmed by a 50–48 vote.<ref>[https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=115&session=1&vote=00283 On the Nomination (Confirmation Gregory G. Katsas, of Virginia, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit)], United States Senate, November 28, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2020.</ref> He received his judicial commission on December 8, 2017.<ref>{{FJC Bio|nid=4022736|inline=yes}}</ref>
He is currently considered the top “feeder” judge, sending the highest number of his law clerks to clerk on the Supreme Court since his appointment to the bench in 2018. Katsas “has sent at least 18 of his law clerks to the high court since the October 2019 term,” according to National Law Journal.<ref>{{Cite web |title=These Judges Feed the Most Law Clerks to the U.S. Supreme Court |url=https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2023/07/19/katsas-sutton-top-list-of-judges-who-feed-most-law-clerks-to-supreme-court/ |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=National Law Journal |language=en|author-first1=Avalon|author-last1=Zoppo|date=19 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rubino |first=Kathryn |date=2023-07-25 |title=This Federal Judge Has A Strong Record Of Feeding Law Clerks To The Supreme Court - Page 2 of 2 - Above the Law |url=https://abovethelaw.com/2023/07/this-federal-judge-has-a-strong-record-of-feeding-law-clerks-to-the-supreme-court/2/ |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=abovethelaw.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
===Notable cases===
* In 2017, Katsas recused himself from matters regarding the Mueller probe on which he personally worked, but said he would consider the facts of a case before making a decision.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/greg-katsas-white-house-counsel-dc-circuit-2017-10 |title=One of Trump's top judicial nominees got grilled on Capitol Hill over his involvement with Mueller's Russia probe |author=Allan Smith |date=October 18, 2017 |website=BusinessInsider.com |access-date=17 December 2018}}</ref>
* On September 9, 2020, President Trump included him on a list of his potential nominees to the Supreme Court.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-judicial-appointments/|title=Remarks by President Trump on Judicial Appointments – The White House|website=trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov}}</ref> He has been suggested as a potential nominee in a second Trump administration.<ref>{{Cite web |author-first1=Shannon |author-last1=Bream |author-first2=Bill |author-last2=Mears |date=2024-06-10 |title=Potential candidates for Supreme Court under a second Donald Trump term |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/potential-candidates-supreme-court-under-second-donald-trump-term |access-date=2024-06-24 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}</ref>
* On July 6, 2021, Judge Katsas gave the tie-breaking 2–1 vote that overturned the FDA's ban on GEDs used predominantly by the Judge Rotenberg Center on disabled patients in Canton, MA.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/dc-circuit-overturns-fda-ban-shock-device-disabled-students-2021-07-06/|title = D.C. Circuit overturns FDA ban on shock device for disabled students|newspaper = Reuters|date = July 7, 2021|last1 = Pierson|first1 = Brendan}}</ref>
* On April 7, 2023, Katsas authored a dissent in ''Fischer v. United States'', a case interpreting whether January 6 participants could be charged under [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1512 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)], a provision of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act enacted to combat corporate fraud that penalizes anyone who “otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding.”<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=United States v. Fischer, 64 F.4th 329 {{!}} Casetext Search + Citator |url=https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-fischer-64 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804213732/https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-fischer-64 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 4, 2023 |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=casetext.com}}</ref> Rejecting the government's argument, Katsas argued that interpreting “the structure and history of section 1512, and with decades of precedent applying section 1512(c) only to acts that affect the integrity or availability of evidence” suggest that the government's reading is “implausibly broad and unconstitutional in a significant number of its applications.”<ref name="auto"/>
== Memberships == He is a member of the Federalist Society,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Katsas%20SJQ.pdf |title=Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees |website=judiciary.senate.gov |access-date=June 30, 2018}}</ref> and also a member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.<ref name=benchmemos/>
== Awards == In 2009, he was awarded the Edmund Randolph award for outstanding service, the highest award bestowed by the United States Department of Justice.<ref name=benchmemos/>
== Scholarly works == * {{cite journal | first = Gregory G. | last = Katsas | title = Targeted Drone Killings: Legal Justifications Under the Bush and Obama Administrations | journal = Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy | volume = 38 | issue = 1 | pages = 251–60 | year = 2015 | url = https://journals.law.harvard.edu/jlpp/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2015/02/Katsas_Final.pdf }}
== See also == {{Portal|Biography}} * List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 10) * Donald Trump Supreme Court candidates
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{FJC Bio|nid=4022736}} * [https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/home.nsf/Content/VL+-+Judges+-+GGK Biography at U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit] * {{Ballotpedia|Greg_Katsas|Gregory G. Katsas}} * [https://www.oyez.org/advocates/gregory_g_katsas Appearances at the U.S. Supreme Court] from the Oyez Project * {{C-SPAN|1014478}} * [https://abovethelaw.com/tag/gregory-katsas/ Articles about Greg Katsas]. AbovetheLaw.com.
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=William W. Mercer<br>Acting}} {{s-ttl|title=United States Associate Attorney General<br>Acting|years=2007–2008}} {{s-aft|after=Kevin J. O'Connor}} {{s-bef|before=Peter Keisler}} {{s-ttl|title=United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division|years=2008–2009}} {{s-aft|after=Tony West}} {{s-bef|before=Janice Rogers Brown}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit}}|years=2017–present}} {{s-inc}} {{s-end}}
{{United States courts of appeals judges}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katsas, Gregory George}} Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:21st-century American lawyers Category:American people of Greek descent Category:George W. Bush administration personnel Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Jones Day people Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Category:Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Category:Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Category:Lawyers from Boston Category:Princeton University alumni Category:First Trump administration personnel Category:United States assistant attorneys general for the Civil Division Category:United States associate attorneys general Category:United States court of appeals judges appointed by Donald Trump Category:Washington, D.C., Republicans