**Top 5 Things You Need to Know About the U.S. Solicitor General:**

Top 5 things you need to know about the U.S. Solicitor General:

• They are the “10th Justice.” The Solicitor General (SG) is the lawyer who represents the United States government before the Supreme Court. Because they argue so frequently and with such high stakes, they have an outsized influence on the Court’s decisions, earning them this unofficial title.
• They decide which cases the government appeals. The SG has near-total control over when the federal government asks the Supreme Court to hear a case. This gatekeeping power means they can kill politically damaging lawsuits or advance key policy goals simply by refusing to file a petition.
• They swear a “solemn oath” to the Constitution. Unlike other government lawyers who answer to a specific client (like the President), the SG is bound to defend acts of Congress unless they are “clearly unconstitutional.” This creates a fascinating tension when a law is championed by the White House but the SG thinks it’s a bad legal bet.
• The office is a political stepping stone. Six former Solicitors General have become Supreme Court justices, including Thurgood Marshall, Elena Kagan, and John Roberts. Because of this, the role is seen as a high-profile audition for a seat on the highest court.
• They can grant “cert” without asking. Through a special process called “certiorari before judgment,” the SG can ask the Supreme Court to skip the normal appeals court review and take a case straight from a district court. This is an incredibly rare power—almost never used unless a case (like a disputed election) is time-sensitive and of “imperative public importance.”