Stuart M. Gerson, Member of the Firm in the Litigation and Health Care & Life Sciences practices, in the firm’s Washington, DC, and New York offices, was quoted in Bloomberg Law, in “Acting Civil Division Chief Faces Thorny Red State Tests Ahead,” by Ben Penn.
Following is an excerpt:
The temporary leader of the Justice Department’s largest litigating division is outlasting his expected tenure without becoming a target of the left or right while facing off against red states over abortion, guns, and immigration.
Brian Boynton, who has quietly helmed DOJ’s Civil Division since President Joe Biden’s inauguration, is technically a political appointee. But he’s one who past colleagues say manages as an institutionalist caretaker, not an advocate. …
Biden Priorities
Although former coworkers in and out of government say Boynton favors restraint over splashy litigation aimed at a political outcome, his moves so far suggest a willingness to advance Biden priorities. …
Boynton has been an “effective administrator” while keeping his “head down low,” said Stuart Gerson, the Civil Division’s assistant attorney general under President George H.W. Bush. But as political conflicts intensify, prompting the administration to consider more DOJ-initiated litigation, “it’s sensible to have a confirmed assistant attorney general there,” Gerson added.
For the foreseeable future there are no signs of a leadership shakeup.
