Former White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler has asked not to be nominated as the next U.S. attorney general, a White House official told TPM on Friday.
Ruemmler was one of the top names under consideration to succeed outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder for the powerful position.
“We can confirm the President asked Kathy to consider this, and she was among those the President had been looking at. Kathy took this step this week on her own volition – as she always has done: putting the President and Administration first,” a White House official, who wasn’t authorized to speak on the record, said.
The official said President Barack Obama won’t announce a nominee until after the midterm election on Nov. 4, and will subsequently “build a confirmation strategy around the nominee and that includes questions of timing.”
Ruemmler served as a lawyer for the Obama administration since January 2009, leaving in July 2014 to return to private practice at Latham & Watkins. Her former role as Obama’s chief legal adviser means her nomination could lead to a resurfacing of various controversies involving Benghazi, IRS and the 2012 Secret Service prostitution scandal, which has recently seen new revelations.
Ruemmler met with Obama in September and he asked her if she wanted to be considered for the position, according to a source close to Ruemmler. “Obviously,” the source said, “it was an honor for her to be asked by the president.” Ruemmler wanted the post but eventually opted against being considered, the source said, because as a former close adviser to the president she feared she would “become a vehicle for partisan attack.”
Ruemmler spoke to Obama by phone on Wednesday and withdrew her name from consideration.
“It wasn’t the right time,” the source said.
White House chief of staff Denis McDonough told TPM in a statement, “Anyone who knows Kathy knows she has impeccable judgment, extraordinary foresight – and is a formidable force. But she is also as selfless as they come, and the President is proud to call her a close friend.”
Two other names rumored for consideration for the attorney general post are Solicitor General Donald Verrilli and Labor Secretary Tom Perez.
This article has been updated.
