Elizabeth Prelogar

Prelogar was born and raised in Boise, Idaho.[6] She graduated from Boise High School in 1998.[7] After first taking college courses at Boise State University at the age of 12,[8] she attended Emory University, where she majored in English and Russian and was a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship. She graduated summa cum laude in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts. She then earned a Master of Letters in creative writing from the University of St Andrews in 2003 and a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2008.[9]

She is fluent in Russian. While at Harvard, she won an Overseas Press Club scholarship to study Russian media and censorship.[10]

Prelogar began her career as a law clerk for Judge Merrick Garland of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and later to Associate Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was then an associate at Hogan Lovells. She taught a course at Harvard Law School on Supreme Court and appellate advocacy.[11]

From 2014 to 2019, Elizabeth Prelogar was an assistant to the solicitor general. She was briefly detailed to the Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. In 2020, she joined Cooley LLP as a partner.[12] She was named principal deputy solicitor general by President Joe Biden in January 2021 and served as Acting Solicitor General.[13] On August 10, 2021, President Biden nominated Prelogar to the office of Solicitor General.[11][14] Her nomination was sent to the Senate that same day.[15] Her nomination was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee,[16] which approved it by a vote of 13–9.[17]

On 28 October 2021, the Senate confirmed Prelogar as solicitor general by a vote of 55-36,[18] becoming the second woman to hold the position.[19][20]

Prelogar was Miss Idaho in 2004.[21] Prelogar donated to the Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign and Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign. She also performed in a mock trial with Brett Kavanaugh in 2016 prior to his nomination to the Supreme Court.[1]

On May 31, 2008 she married Brandon Prelogar in Guatemala.[22] They have two sons.[23]

• Appearances at the U.S. Supreme Court from the Oyez Project
• Appearances on C-SPAN