The Associate Attorney General is the third-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. The Associate Attorney General advises and assists the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General in policies relating to civil justice, federal and local law enforcement, and public safety matters. The Associate Attorney General is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The incumbent Associate Attorney General is Thomas J. Perrelli.

The Office of the Associate Attorney General oversees the Antitrust Division, the Civil Division, the Environment and Natural Resources Division, the Tax Division, the Office of Justice Programs, the Community Oriented Policing Services, the Community Relations Service, the Office of Dispute Resolution, the Office of Violence Against Women, the Office of Information and Privacy, the Executive Office for United States Trustees, and the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission.

The Office of the Associate Attorney General was created on March 10, 1977 by Attorney General Order No. 699-77. Several recent former Associate Attorney Generals include Jay B. Stephens, Acting Associate Attorney General Peter D. Keisler, Stephen S. Trott, Arnold I. Burns, Rudy Giuliani, Robert McCallum, Jr., Frank Keating, Webster Hubbell and Acting Associate Attorney General William W. Mercer.

On January 5, 2009, President-elect Barack Obama nominated Thomas J. Perrelli as the 18th Associate Attorney General of the United States. He was confirmed by the United States Senate in a 72-20 vote on March 12, 2009.

List of United States Associate Attorneys General

Name	Years in Office
Michael J. Egan	1977 – 1979
John H. Shenefield	1979 – 1981
Rudolph W. Giuliani	1981 – 1983
D. Lowell Jensen	1983 – 1985
Arnold I. Burns	1985 – 1986
Stephen S. Trott	1986 – 1988
Frank Keating	1988 – 1990
vacant	1990 – 1992
Wayne Budd	1992 – 1993
Webster Hubbell	1993 – 1994
John R. Schmidt	1994 – 1997
Raymond C. Fisher	1997 – 1999
Daniel Marcus	1999 – 2001
Jay B. Stephens	2001 – 2002
Peter D. Keisler *	2002 – 2003
Robert McCallum, Jr.	2003 – 2006
William W. Mercer *	2006 – 2007
Kevin J. O'Connor	2008 – 2009
Thomas J. Perrelli	2009 – present
* Acting Associate Attorney General

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