Kathryn Ruemmler
White House Counsel
In office
June 30, 2011 – June 2, 2014
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byBob Bauer
Succeeded byNeil Eggleston
Personal details
Born (1971-04-19) April 19, 1971
Richland, Washington, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of Washington (BA)
Georgetown University (JD)

Kathryn "Kathy" Ruemmler (born April 19, 1971) is an attorney who formerly served as Principal Deputy White House Counsel and then White House Counsel to President Barack Obama.[1] Previously a partner at Latham and Watkins co-chairing its white-collar defense group,[2] Ruemmler joined Goldman Sachs in 2020 as a Partner and Global Head of Regulatory Affairs. In 2021, she was promoted to Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel.[3]

Early life and education

A graduate of Richland High School in Richland, Washington,[4] Ruemmler received a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Washington, and earned her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center.[5] She also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Georgetown Law Journal.

Career

Ruemmler is a former federal prosecutor who helped lead the government's case against the former executives of Enron.

Ruemmler clerked for Judge Timothy K. Lewis on the Third Circuit in 1996 and 1997 .[6] From 2000 to 2001 she served as Associate Counsel to President Clinton. She worked as a federal prosecutor from 2001 to 2007, first as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia,[7] and finishing as a deputy director of DOJ's Enron Task Force. In 2006, she delivered the government's closing argument in the trial of former Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, both of whom were convicted. She returned to Latham in Washington, D.C. in 2007, this time as a partner, but left in January 2009 to serve as principal associate deputy attorney general at the Justice Department. She served as White House Counsel from 2011 to 2014, and then again returned to Latham.

In 2020, Ruemmler joined Goldman Sachs as a partner. She currently serves as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel; she was previously Global Head of Regulatory Affairs. She serves on the firmwide Management Committee.[8]

While she was employed as a partner at Latham and Watkins, Ruemmler met with Jeffrey Epstein on dozens of occasions including lunches and dinners between her time in the White House and her subsequent hiring at Goldman Sachs, according to his schedule, The Wall Street Journal reported. She was also on his schedule for a flight to Paris in 2015, as well as a stop at his home in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2017; she said these trips did not take place and The Wall Street Journal could not confirm that they or other meetings ultimately happened.[9] She said: “I regret ever knowing Jeffrey Epstein.”[9]

White House counsel

In October 2011, Ruemmler said that there is no evidence of the White House intervening in Solyndra's loan guarantee to benefit a campaign donor. Her letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee also denies an effort by committee Republicans for access to internal White House communications. The letter goes on to deny Republican claims of improper White House influence in the Energy Department's 2009 decision to grant the company a $535 million loan guarantee, and the deal's early 2011 revamp that put private investors ahead of taxpayers for repayment if the company liquidated.[10]

Over what would have traditionally been the 2011-2012 winter recess of the 112th Congress, the House of Representatives did not assent to recess, specifically to block Richard Cordray's appointment as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.[11] As a result, both the House and Senate held pro forma sessions.[12] On January 4, 2012, President Obama claimed authority to appoint Richard Cordray and others under the Recess Appointments Clause. Counsel Ruemmler asserted that the appointments were valid, because the pro forma sessions were designed to, "through form, render a constitutional power of the executive obsolete," and that the Senate was for all intents and purposes recessed.[13] Republicans in the Senate disputed the appointments, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stating that Obama had "arrogantly circumvented the American people" and endangered "the Congress's role in providing a check on the excesses of the executive branch." It was expected that there would be a legal challenge to the appointments.[14]

Obama hugs Ruemmler following the Supreme Court ruling on National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius.

On January 6, 2012, the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion regarding recess appointments and pro forma sessions, stating that "[t]he convening of periodic pro forma sessions in which no business is to be conducted does not have the legal effect of interrupting an intrasession recess otherwise long enough to qualify as a "Recess of the Senate" under the Recess Appointments Clause. In this context, the President therefore has discretion to conclude that the Senate is unavailable to perform its advise-and-consent function and to exercise his power to make recess appointments."[15][16]

After National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius was decided in favor of the Obama administration on 28 June 2012, Ruemmler was the one to tell Obama and his chief of staff, Jack Lew, that the administration's signature Obamacare legislation had actually been upheld.[17]

In a profile by the Washington Post, it was reported that during negotiations over John Brennan's confirmation as CIA director, according to a White House official, it was Ruemmler who decided that the House and Senate intelligence panels could review the e-mails about different drafts of the Benghazi talking points without letting them take copies. The administration shifted course this month by releasing the e-mails after weeks of controversy over their content.[18]

She announced plans that she would be stepping down as White House Counsel in mid May.[19] She returned to private practice in July 2014.[20]

In September 2014 when Attorney General Eric Holder announced his intention to step down, Ruemmler was speculated as being a potential candidate as the next United States Attorney General.[21][22] She withdrew from consideration the following month, amid speculation that she would have faced a "difficult confirmation process" because of her close friendship with President Obama.[23]

FINRA board member, 2023[24]

Personal life

Design firm Ashe Leandro created a line of furniture named after her, called "Ruemmler."[25] She is a client of the firm, and the line contains piecemeal elements made of wood (often, French Oak), leather, silk, and steel.[25][26][27]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kathryn Ruemmler.
  1. ↑ "Former Enron prosecutor Kathy Ruemmler named White House counsel". Houston Chronicle. June 2, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Kathryn H. Ruemmler". Latham and Watkins. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  3. ↑ "Management Committee - Kathryn Ruemmler - Goldman Sachs". Goldman Sachs. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "Top Enron Trial Prosecutor Started out in Richland". KNDU. 2013-04-17. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  5. ↑ The White House: Office of the Press Secretary (June 2, 2011). "President Obama Announces New White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved June 3, 2011 – via National Archives.
  6. ↑ "Kathryn Ruemmler". 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ↑ Johnson, Carrie (18 Jan 2006). "Taking Enron to Task". Washington Post. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  8. ↑ American Law Institute. ""Kathryn Ruemmler"". American Law Institute. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  9. 1 2 Khadeeja Safdar & David Benoit (30 April 2023). "Epstein's Private Calendar Reveals Prominent Names, Including CIA Chief, Goldman's Top Lawyer". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  10. ↑ Geman, Ben (2011-10-15). "White House counsel: No evidence that Solyndra aid was gift to donors". The Hill. Archived from the original on 2011-10-17. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  11. ↑ Beutler, Brian (2012-01-04). "GOP Furious As Obama Recess Appoints Cordray". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  12. ↑ Mcconnell, Michael (January 10, 2012). Wall Street Journal_share_tweet "Democrats and Executive Overreach". The Wall Street Journal. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  13. ↑ Savage, Charlie (January 4, 2012). "Obama Tempts Fight Over Recess Appointments". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  14. ↑ Pelofsky, Jeremy (January 5, 2012). "Analysis: Obama consumer chief decision under a legal cloud". Reuters. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  15. ↑ "DOJ Office of Legal Counsel: Opinions by Date and Title". Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Lawfulness of Recess Appointments During a Recess of the Senate Notwithstanding Periodic Pro Forma Sessions" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 18, 2012.
  17. ↑ Parnes, Amie (2012-06-28). "Obama initially thought his health mandate had been overturned". The Hill. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  18. ↑ "White House counsel Kathy Ruemmler: From outsider to protector of the presidency". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  19. ↑ Savage, Charlie (6 April 2014). "Departing White House Counsel Held Powerful Sway". The New York Times.
  20. ↑ "Former White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler to Rejoin Latham & Watkins". Latham & Watkins LLP. 20 May 2014.
  21. ↑ Matt Apuzzo & Michael D. Shear (25 September 2014). "Attorney General Eric Holder, Prominent Liberal Voice in Obama Administration, Is Resigning". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  22. ↑ Camia, Catalina (25 September 2014). "After Eric Holder: Potential attorney general choices". USA Today. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  23. ↑ Berman, Russell (24 October 2014). "The President's Top Lawyer Doesn't Want to Be His Attorney General". The Atlantic. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  24. ↑ "finra: Current Board Members".
  25. 1 2 Lilah Ramzi (October 31, 2018). "Interior Firm Ashe Leandro Pays Homage to Design Greats With a New Line of Furniture". Vogue.
  26. ↑ Hadley Keller (November 2, 2018). "Ashe + Leandro Launches a Quietly Beautiful Furniture Collection". Architectural Digest.
  27. ↑ Florsheim, Lane (October 29, 2018). "The Interior Designers Behind Ashe Leandro Couldn't Find the Furniture They Wanted, So They Made Their Own Line". The Wall Street Journal.
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