**Top 5 Things You Need to Know About the Solicitor General**

Top 5 Things You Need to Know About the Solicitor General

• The “Tenth Justice”: The Solicitor General is often called the “Tenth Justice” of the U.S. Supreme Court because they argue the most frequently and have unprecedented access to the Justices. Their office decides which federal cases the government will appeal to the Supreme Court—a power that shapes national law.

• The Gatekeeper of Federal Appeals: Before most federal agencies can appeal a lower court loss, the Solicitor General must personally approve it. This means this single lawyer has the final say on whether the entire Executive Branch gets to fight a legal battle at the highest level—blocking appeals they deem weak or politically risky.

• Sole Legal Voice of the President: When the U.S. government takes a position in a case, the Solicitor General writes the briefs and argues before the Court. No other federal lawyer can speak for the government there. This creates a “one-voice” rule that forces all 15 executive departments to agree on one legal argument—or face a quiet but fierce internal war.

• Wildly Bipartisan Fealty: Despite being a political appointee, the office has a fiercely protected culture of nonpartisan legal integrity. Past SGs have openly lost cases for their own administration when they believed the law was against them. This tradition is so sacred that former SGs, regardless of party, often publicly scold current SGs for “politicizing” the office.

• The Unseen Power Over Your Life: While the President picks the SG, their decisions affect everything from immigration and abortion to net neutrality and climate regulations. For example, Bush v. Gore (2000) and the ACA challenges were largely framed and argued by the SG’s office. When the SG refuses to defend a federal law, it almost always signals the law is dead—or about to be rewritten.