Molly J. Moran

Acting General Counsel

Molly J. Moran is the Acting General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).  Ms. Moran is counsel to Secretary Anthony Foxx and serves as the Department’s Chief Legal Officer, with authority to resolve all legal questions concerning the Department’s policies and programs and its over 55,000 employees and $78 billion budget. She oversees the activities of more than 500 lawyers in the Department and its ten operating administrations, safeguarding the integrity of the decision making process and promoting compliance with all applicable laws.  Ms. Moran is responsible for the Department’s regulatory program, including airline consumer protection, its litigation and enforcement activities, and the preparation of transportation legislation.

Prior to joining DOT, she served in a number of senior leadership roles at the Department of Justice.  From late 2014-2016, she was the Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General, supervising the Justice Department’s civil litigating and grant-making divisions.  In 2014, she was Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division and led the Justice Department’s civil and criminal investigations of the Ferguson Police Department.  From 2010-2014, she served as Counselor and Deputy Chief of Staff to Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., a role in which she was a principal advisor to the Attorney General in formulating and implementing a wide range of Justice Department initiatives.  From 2009-2010, she was a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy where she managed the Department's role in selecting federal judges.    

Before joining the Obama Administration, Ms. Moran was a litigation partner at Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago, Illinois and Washington, DC, where she focused on complex commercial litigation and internal investigations.  An Indiana native, Ms. Moran received her B.A. and J.D. from Indiana University – Bloomington.