[2] Before joining the Department of Justice, he was a senior partner at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis and was the United States deputy secretary of transportation.
[4] He graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts in economics in 1979 after serving as president of the student council in his third and final year of college.
[13] Beginning in 1996, through 2003, Rosen was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he taught Professional Responsibility (Legal Ethics).
During those years, Rosen oversaw the wide-ranging activities of more than 400 lawyers, while also playing a senior management role in a department with a total budget of approximately $60 billion.
[22][23] While serving as General Counsel at DOT, Rosen also testified before Congress on numerous occasions on a wide range of subjects, including Amtrak.
[28] During the 2012 presidential election, media accounts indicated that Rosen was likely to be considered for a role in a new administration had Mitt Romney defeated Barack Obama.
After Senate Democrats announced resistance to most senior nominees, on May 16, 2017, Rosen was confirmed as United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation by a 56–42 vote.
[43] He also helped with FAA's successful efforts to reform its regulations and restore the US lead in enabling the largest number of private commercial space launches.
[44] Rosen helped implement other key DOT priorities, including new infrastructure, both with regard to existing federal grant programs and new legislation.
[48] On February 19, 2019, President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Rosen for the position of United States Deputy Attorney General, succeeding Rod Rosenstein upon his departure from the Department of Justice.
"[55] PBS reported him as being described as "someone who would 'put his head down and get the job done without seeking the spotlight'.” [56] Rosen guided initiatives, including an antitrust review of online technology platforms, criminal and civil opioids enforcement and legislation, counter-UAS measures to facilitate the safe use of drones, redress of pandemic-related fraud, and reform of regulatory and administrative law, among others.
Federal prosecutors proposed to move forward with possible criminal charges against Zinke over the accuracy of his recollections concerning his involvement in blocking two Native American tribes from operating a casino near an MGM Resorts International gambling facility, and Rosen and others reportedly assessed that more work would be needed before such a case could properly proceed.
[62] In February 2020, Rosen presented oral argument to the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving prison inmate litigation (Lomax v.
[64] On September 16, 2020, Rosen announced indictments of Chinese hackers, a group known as “Wicked Panda” or “APT-41”, who had targeted more than 100 makers of videogames, universities, and others.
Rosen had handled antitrust litigation in private practice, including a case against Microsoft, and took a lead role in DOJ's investigation of Google.
[69] With Attorney General Barr having departed, Rosen reportedly was briefed on the incident and directed that all DOJ resources be made available to assist in the investigation.
[70] Near the end of December 2020, a Pakistani court ordered the release of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main suspect in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter.
[72][73][74] According to a January 21, 2021, report in The New York Times, even before Barr had left, Rosen was summoned to the Oval Office and pressured by President Donald Trump to aid him in his attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election.
Trump asked him to file Justice Department legal briefs supporting lawsuits against the election results, and to appoint special prosecutors to investigate unfounded allegations of voter fraud and accusations against Dominion Voting Systems.
“We don't see that, We're not going to have a press conference.” [80] Another effort to pressure Rosen to investigate the results of the 2020 presidential election was led by William J. Olson, a Virginia and D.C. lawyer, who represents Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow.
Trump decided against removing Rosen only after learning from Donoghue and Steven Engel that they and all the other Justice Department senior officials would resign if he did.
"[76] In early August 2021, Rosen told the Justice Department inspector general and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that Clark had tried to get the DOJ to help Trump subvert the election.