Is Gregoire on the short list for Solicitor General?

Published 5:39 pm Tuesday, May 11, 2010

With another opening in the Obama Administration comes fresh talk of Gov. Chris Gregoire leaving office early to head to the other Washington.

Yesterday, I didn’t think much of the

ruminations of Peter Callaghan and the BIAW on Gregoire getting tapped to succeed Elena Kagan as solicitor general.

Today, I am paying a bit more attention though hardly convinced Gregoire is looking for an interview outfit.

On Monday, I called friends in Washington, D.C. who tend to hear such rumors and know when they’re true. They said they had not heard a thing.

Today, I got a call back from one who said they had heard Gregoire’s name is on a list of names of people who may get considered.

(I could not reach the governor to find out if she’s been told she’s on a list or not.)

It might not seem shocking for her to make the list. Gregoire and Kagan have known each other for awhile.

When Kagan served in the Clinton Administration, she and Gregoire, then Washington’s AG, worked together on the national tobacco case. Kagan, while working for Clinton, hired a Gregoire daughter to be executive assistant for a period of time, according to the governor’s staff.

Media types on the East Coast don’t have her on the top of their list.

In the Wall Street Journal law blog the early favorite for the job is Don Verrilli, an associate White House Counsel.

The other name showing up in stories on this subject is Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal. His life story can be found here.