The White House said on Tuesday night, the U.S President Donald Trump will nominate attorney Jeffrey Rosen as deputy attorney general to replace Rod Rosenstein. An official (unnamed) in the U.S Justice Department informed, Rosen is currently working as deputy transportation secretary and he will replace Rosenstein after the confirmation. Rosenstein was appointed as special counsel Robert Mueller in May 2017, to oversee the investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Rosenstein has experienced various attacks from Trump after former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe said that he and Rosenstein had discussed secretly taping the president, and lobbying Cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.
Trump tweeted that Rosenstein and McCabe were planning a very illegal act and got caught. Rosenstein had long been expected to vacate his post after the appointment of Trump’s new attorney general, William Barr. Barr was confirmed from the U.S Senate last week. He has welcomed the appointment of Rosen and said in a statement that his proposed deputy had more than 3 decades of experience in top government roles and in private legal practice.
Barr also said, “His years of outstanding legal and management experience make him an excellent choice to succeed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has served the Department of Justice over many years with dedication and distinction”. The secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao also praised Rosen and said in a statement that he had played a critical role in helping me lead and manage the Department of Transportation.
Rosen is a Harvard Law School graduate and has been a senior partner at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He left the firm in 2003 after he was appointed general counsel at the Department of Transportation in the administration of President George W. Bush. He has served as general counsel at the Office of Management and Budget before leaving in 2009. He then became deputy transportation secretary in May 2017.