T. Elliot Gaiser

Thomas Elliot Gaiser (born September 6, 1989) is an American attorney who has served as the United States assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel since 2025.

After graduating from the University of Chicago Law School, Gaiser clerked for appellate judges Edith H. Jones, Neomi Rao, and then Justice Samuel Alito. He was involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In October 2023, Dave Yost, the Attorney General of Ohio, named Gaiser as the state's solicitor general.

In April 2025, president Donald Trump named Gaiser as his nominee for assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel. He was confirmed by the Senate in July and took office the following month.

Thomas Elliot Gaiser was born on September 6, 1989,^[1] in Cleveland, Ohio.^[2] In high school, he participated in speech and debate.^[2] Gaiser graduated from Hillsdale College in 2012 with a degree in political economy and speech studies.^[3] At Hillsdale, he was a conservative podcaster^[4] and was involved in the students' union. Gaiser was a four-time finalist of the Edward Everett Oratory Contest.^[5] He interned for The Heritage Foundation^[3] and Liberty Central, a political advocacy group founded by Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court associate justice Clarence Thomas, and wrote for The Daily Caller, RealClearPolicy, The Orange County Register, The Daily Signal, The American Spectator, PJ Media, and The Federalist.^[6] He was in Hillsdale's journalism program^[5] and served as the opinions editor of The Collegian his senior year.^[2] In addition, Gaiser was the president of Hillsdale's chapter of Students for Free Enterprise.^[7]

After graduating from Hillsdale College, Gaiser worked for Altus Technologies Corporation for five months.^[6] He later attended the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, transferring into the University of Chicago Law School after a year.^[3] In law school, he worked for Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, later working appellate cases for the office of the Ohio solicitor general, including Ohio Supreme Court cases. Before graduating, Gaiser externed for judge Alice M. Batchelder of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.^[6] He graduated from the University of Chicago in 2016.^[8]

After graduating from the University of Chicago, Gaiser clerked for judge Edith H. Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for the 2016–2017 term. By November 2017, he had begun working at Gibson Dunn.^[6] Gaiser was later a clerk for judge Neomi Rao of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.^[9] By December 2020, he had worked at Boyden Gray & Associates.^[10] In July 2021, Gaiser began serving as a clerk to Supreme Court associate justice Samuel Alito for the 2021–2022 term.^[11] In September 2022, Gaiser returned to Hillsdale College to co-teach a one week, one-credit course on constitutional interpretation.^[12] Jones Day named Gaiser as an associate in December.^[13]

In 2020, Gaiser worked as legal counsel for Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign.^[14] White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany testified before the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack that she considered him an expert on constitutional law. Gaiser worked on election litigation after the 2020 presidential election and produced a speech that rejected the results of the election. According to McEnany, the speech appeared similar to one Trump later delivered, and Gaiser "mentioned in passing" the theory that vice president Mike Pence could refuse to recognize electors from certain states.^[4]

On October 18, 2023, Dave Yost, the attorney general of Ohio, named Gaiser as the state's solicitor general.^[15] He was sworn into office in November.^[10] In February 2025, Gaiser argued on behalf of the Ohio Department of Youth Services in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, a Supreme Court.^[16] The Court ruled against the Ohio Department of Youth Services in June.^[17]

On April 1, 2025, The New York Times reported that Trump intended to nominate Gaiser as the United States assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel.^[3] Trump officially announced his nomination the following day. Gaiser appeared before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on May 21.^[18] The Committee on the Judiciary voted to advance Gaiser’s nomination 12–10 along party lines on June 12.^[19] He was confirmed by the Senate in a 53–45 vote along party lines on July 30.^[20]

In September, Gaiser signed a memorandum arguing that the United States strikes on alleged drug traffickers during Operation Southern Spear were lawful, comparing alleged drug traffickers to foreign nations attempting to invade the United States.^[21] In November, he told congressional lawmakers that the United States's strikes on Latin American cartels was not subject to the War Powers Resolution and did not require congressional approval, an interpretation disputed by some legal experts as a violation of U.S. and international law.^[22] That month, he authored a memorandum supporting detailing military lawyers as immigration judges. The memorandum was criticized by some legal scholars as an unprecedented expansion of executive authority.^[23]