Ryan Dean Newman

The White House announced in March 2017 the president's intention to nominate Ryan Dean Newman, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy, to serve as general counsel of the Army. The nomination was withdrawn from consideration September 29 2017. Newman previously worked as chief counsel to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, in addition to Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and Judge J.L. Edmondson of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to joining the Justice Department, Newman worked as a criminal defense attorney at Jones Day. In that capacity, he was part of a team of attorneys representing former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell in federal corruption proceedings. Newman is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and University of Texas School of Law. He is a former Army captain, having deployed to Iraq in 2003 and earned a Bronze Star.