
Edward Whelan
Distinguished Senior Fellow and Antonin Scalia Chair in Constitutional Studies
Program: The Constitution, the Courts, and the Culture
Contact: ewhelan@eppc.org
Edward Whelan is a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and holds EPPC’s Antonin Scalia Chair in Constitutional Studies. He is the longest-serving President in EPPC’s history, having held that position from March 2004 through January 2021.
Mr. Whelan directs EPPC’s program on The Constitution, the Courts, and the Culture. His areas of expertise include constitutional law and the judicial confirmation process. As a contributor to National Review Online’s Bench Memos blog, he has been a leading commentator on nominations to the Supreme Court and the lower courts and on issues of constitutional law. He has written essays and op-eds for leading newspapers—including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post—opinion journals, and academic symposia and law reviews. The National Law Journal has named Mr. Whelan among its “Champions and Visionaries” in the practice of law in D.C.
Mr. Whelan is co-editor of three volumes of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s work: Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived (Crown Forum, 2017), a New York Times bestselling collection of speeches by Justice Scalia; On Faith: Lessons from an American Believer (Crown Forum, 2019), a collection of Justice Scalia’s writings on faith and religion; and The Essential Scalia: On the Constitution, the Courts, and the Rule of Law (Crown Forum, 2020), a collection of Justice Scalia’s views on legal issues.
Mr. Whelan, a lawyer and a former law clerk to Justice Scalia, has served in positions of responsibility in all three branches of the federal government. From just before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, until joining EPPC in 2004, Mr. Whelan was the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice. In that capacity, he advised the White House Counsel’s Office, the Attorney General and other senior DOJ officials, and departments and agencies throughout the executive branch on difficult and sensitive legal questions. Mr. Whelan previously served on Capitol Hill as General Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. In addition to clerking for Justice Scalia, he was a law clerk to Judge J. Clifford Wallace of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
In 1981 Mr. Whelan graduated with honors from Harvard College and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. magna cum laude in 1985 from Harvard Law School, where he was a member of the Board of Editors of the Harvard Law Review.
For more on Mr. Whelan’s background, see this interview.
SUBSCRIBE
ED WHELAN
Sign up here to receive updates from Ed Whelan. (Your email address will not display to other recipients.)
BENCH MEMOS
Re: Biden Administration Defies Longstanding DOJ Norm on Agency Litigation
Published on 9 April, 2021
Professor Finnis Kindly Replies
Published on 9 April, 2021
Diversity Wars and Squeaky Wheels
Published on 9 April, 2021
This Day in Liberal Judicial Activism—April 9
Published on 9 April, 2021
No one more effectively explains and defends the proper role of federal courts than Ed Whelan. He's an indispensable one-man think-tank who has assembled a battalion of the most talented scholars and analysts, every single one of whom produces consequential work.
Kate O’Beirne
PUBLICATIONS
Doubts About Constitutional Personhood
Published in First Things on April 8, 2021
The Unsoundness and Imprudence of “Common-Good Originalism”
Published in Public Discourse on March 2, 2021
Justice Barrett Would Extend Scalia’s Legacy
Published in National Review - October 19, 2020 issue on September 30, 2020
Why Finding Justices Who Will Overturn Roe v. Wade Hasn’t Been Easy, And What to Do About It
Published in Public Discourse on August 25, 2020
Senator Hawley’s Judicial Test on Roe v. Wade Won’t Work
Published in Public Discourse on August 24, 2020
Vile Smear of Justice Alito
Published in National Review Online on April 23, 2020
McConnell’s Supreme Court Tactics: Politics 101
Published in National Review Online on January 2, 2020
The Presumption of Constitutionality
Published in Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy - Volume 42 on March 12, 2019
The Judicial Divide Between Conservatives and Liberals
Published in The (Yale) Politic on November 20, 2018
Trump Picks Brett Kavanaugh
Published in National Review Online on July 9, 2018
Trump’s Stellar Judges
Published in National Review - January 22, 2018 issue on January 5, 2018
Interview: Ed Whelan, An EPPC Eye On Judicial Confirmations
Published in Simple Justice: A Criminal Defense Blog on April 5, 2017
No Deal on Gorsuch Filibuster
Published in National Review Online on April 4, 2017
A Supreme Successor to Justice Scalia
Published in National Review Online on January 31, 2017
New York Times Smears Justice Scalia on Science
Published in National Review Online on January 12, 2017
Antonin Scalia, Disciple of the Word
Published in National Review Online on October 27, 2016
Let’s Break Off the Engagement
Published in Cato Unbound on September 20, 2016
Ground Beef
Published in National Review - August 1, 2016 issue on July 29, 2016
Celebrating Justice Thomas’s 25 Years on the Supreme Court
Published in National Review Online on July 1, 2016
Piecing America’s ‘Fractured Republic’ Back Together
Published in The Federalist on June 10, 2016
Obama Administration’s Outrageous War on North Carolina
Published in National Review Online on May 12, 2016
Title IX in the Restroom
Published in National Review - May 23, 2016 issue on May 10, 2016
Fourth Circuit Inflicts Sex Change on Title IX
Published in National Review Online on April 27, 2016
Antonin Scalia — A Justice in Full
Published in National Review -- March 14, 2016 issue on February 29, 2016
The Bathroom Wars and the 2016 Presidential Election
Published in National Review Online on November 4, 2015
Senate Testimony on Supreme Court Lawlessness
Published in Testimony on July 22, 2015
Zombie Justices Reign Supreme
Published in Polizette on July 14, 2015
After Obergefell: The Perilous Path Ahead
Published in National Review - July 20, 2015 issue on July 9, 2015
The Use and Abuse of Originalism
Published in Library of Law and Liberty on June 11, 2015
Reclaiming Citizenship
Published in National Review - June 1, 2015 issue on May 20, 2015
A Bad Proposal
Published in Buffalo Law Review - Volume 63, Issue 2 (April 2015) on May 18, 2015
Bench Memos Turns Ten
Published in National Review Online on May 12, 2015
Injudicious Ginsburg
Published in National Review Online on February 19, 2015
Rand Paul Is Wrong: Judicial Restraint Is Right
Published in National Review Online on January 15, 2015
A Curious Panel Selection Procedure
Published in San Francisco Daily Journal on December 15, 2014
What Will the GOP’s Senate Takeover Mean for Judicial Nominations?
Published in The National Law Journal on November 10, 2014
Don’t Bring Back the Judicial Filibuster
Published in National Review Online on November 5, 2014
The Senate and the Courts
Published in The Weekly Standard on September 25, 2014
Review of The Rise and Decline of American Religious Freedom
Published in First Things (August/September 2014 issue) on July 8, 2014
Murphy’s Law
Published in National Review on June 27, 2014
Falling Down on the Job
Published in Weekly Standard on February 17, 2014
Judge Sykes Versus Judge Rovner on the HHS Mandate
Published in National Review Online on November 19, 2013
Richard A. Posner’s Reflections on Judging
Published in National Review Online on October 21, 2013
Non-Discrimination Principles Versus Civil Liberties
Published in United States Commission on Civil Rights on March 1, 2013
EPPC President Ed Whelan on CNN
Published in CNN on February 2, 2013
Scouting’s Suicide
Published in New York Post on February 1, 2013
EPPC’s Supreme Court Amicus Brief in Proposition 8 Marriage Case
Published in United States Supreme Court on January 29, 2013
Federalism and Marriage
Published in National Review on December 31, 2012
Marriage at Stake
Published in National Catholic Register on December 12, 2012
The Basics on the DOMA Case
Published in National Review Online on December 10, 2012
The Activism to Come
Published in National Review on December 3, 2012
The HHS Contraception Mandate vs. the Religious Freedom Restoration Act
Published in Notre Dame Law Review on November 2, 2012
Obama vs. Romney on the Supreme Court
Published in National Review Online on October 11, 2012
Richard A. Posner’s Badly Confused Attack on Scalia/Garner
Published in National Review Online on September 7, 2012
Some Initial Thoughts
Published in National Review Online on June 28, 2012
Exposing the Schlock Social Science on Gay Parenting
Published in National Review Online on June 11, 2012
The President Comes Out
Published in National Review Online on May 10, 2012
Inept NYT Op-Ed Defending HHS Mandate
Published in National Review Online on February 27, 2012
Birth-Control Mandate: Unconstitutional and Illegal
Published in The Wall Street Journal on February 15, 2012
The HHS Contraception Mandate vs. the Religious Freedom Restoration Act
Published in National Review Online on
Defend Our Laws: Justice Matters
Published in Public Discourse: Ethics, Law and the Common Good on August 25, 2011
Can Marriage Be Saved?
Published in National Review Online on July 23, 2011
Disclosure Delayed Is Justice Denied
Published in National Review Online on April 19, 2011
House of Representatives Testimony on Defending Marriage
Published in Congressional Testimony on April 15, 2011
Should Supreme Court proceedings be televised? No
Published in CQ Researcher on January 14, 2011
Reinhardt’s Non-Disqualification Memorandum
Published in National Review Online on January 7, 2011
Don’t Defend, Don’t Appeal?
Published in The Weekly Standard on October 30, 2010
A Reckless False Alarm
Published in National Law Journal's Supreme Court Insider on November 2, 2010
Don't Defend, Don't Tell
Published in Public Discourse on October 15, 2010
The Most Egregious Performance Ever by a Federal District Judge
Published in National Review Online on August 13, 2010