US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar is getting one last unexpected Supreme Court appearance Friday in a case which could determine whether TikTok will continue to operate in the US.
Prelogar has argued more than two dozen cases as the government’s top lawyer before the justices, including what was expected to be her last in December regarding a Tennessee law that banned certain medical treatments for transgender minors.
The justices will hear only one week of arguments in January before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, ending the tenure of Prelogar, who was appointed by Joe Biden.
But last month, the justices granted TikTok’s emergency request over impending legislation that could shut the popular social media site down in the US.
And just 10 days before Trump takes office, Prelogar will return to the lectern in TikTok, Inc. v. Garland. It’s her 36th argument at the high court, where she’ll face former Trump Solicitor General Noel Francisco, now at Jones Day, and O’Melveny & Myers partner Jeffrey Fisher.
Conservative Court
Prelogar led the Solicitor General’s Office for the entire Biden administration, first as principal deputy and then as acting SG. She was confirmed to the permanent role in October 2021, days before she argued against Texas law, SB 8, which banned abortions at six weeks.
A month later, she argued in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which led to the overturning of a constitutional right to abortion.
Prelogar had an uphill battle defending important Biden policies before a conservative majority.
Under her watch, the court struck down the administration’s student loan forgiveness program, undid affirmative action in higher education, and vastly cut back on the power of administrative agencies, particularly the Environmental Protection Agency.
Prelogar was able to convince the justices to avoid a broad ruling on the power of state legislatures to set election rules, limit states’ ability to challenge immigration policies, and reject an effort to curb the availability of the abortion drug mifepristone.
Early Success
The Idaho native with degrees from Emory, Harvard, and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland went onto clerk for both Justices Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg before becoming the second female US solicitor general after Kagan.
Prelogar hasn’t said what she’ll do next. She’s previously worked at Hogan Lovells and was a partner at Cooley LLP before Biden tapped her to rejoin the Justice Department.
Shortly after his 2024 victory, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate former Missouri Solicitor General D. John Sauer to replace Prelogar.
Sauer, a conservative lawyer at the heart of several high-profile challenges to Biden administration policies, most notably represented Trump in his successful bid for immunity related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Sauer filed a friend of the court brief in the TikTok case on behalf of the incoming administration. In it, he urged the court to pause the case so that the new administration can come up with its own solution.
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