Edward Whelan

Distinguished Senior Fellow and Antonin Scalia Chair in Constitutional Studies

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.

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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, Mr. Whelan has been a leading commentator on nominations to the Supreme Court and the lower courts and on issues of constitutional law. In his Confirmation Tales newsletter, he draws lessons from his three decades of experience in judicial-confirmation battles.

Mr. Whelan 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 him 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.

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Ed Whelan on Biden’s Supreme Court Proposals

August 5. 2024 | The Drew Mariani Show

Ed Whelan on Supreme Court Ethics

June 4, 2024 | C-SPAN

VIDEO: Ed Whelan on C-SPAN

June 28, 2022 | C-SPAN

On June 28, 2022, EPPC Senior Fellow Ed Whelan appeared on C-SPAN to discuss the constitutional law implications of recent…

VIDEO: Ed Whelan on the Leaked Dobbs Draft Opinion

May 13, 2022 | Firing Line with Margaret Hoover

On May 13, Distinguished Senior Fellow Ed Whelan appeared on PBS’s Firing Line with Margaret Hoover to discuss the leaked…

VIDEO: Ed Whelan on the Leaked Dobbs Opinion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh_2yWEK2GA | EWTN News

On May 6, Distinguished Senior Fellow Ed Whelan appeared on EWTN News to discuss the leaked draft opinion of the…

AUDIO: Ed Whelan Discusses KBJ on SCOTUS 101 Podcast

March 18, 2022 | SCOTUS 101 podcast

On March 17, 2022, EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow Ed Whelan appeared on the Heritage Foundation’s SCOTUS 101 podcast to discuss…

AUDIO: Ed Whelan discusses President Biden’s Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson

February 28, 2022 | Issues, Etc. Podcast

On February 28, 2022, EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow Edward Whelan went on the Issues, Etc. podcast to discuss President Biden’s…

AUDIO: Ed Whelan Discusses SCOTUS Nomination at Federalist Society Virtual Event

March 1, 2022 | The Federalist Society

On March 1, 2022, EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow Ed Whelan joined the Federalist Society’s virtual lunch event to discuss President…

AUDIO: Ed Whelan on Texas Heartbeat Act Cases

December 14, 2021 | “Amarica’s Constitution” podcast

On December 14, 2021, EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow Ed Whelan appeared on Yale law professor Akhil Amar’s “Amarica’s Constitution” podcast….

VIDEO: Ed Whelan Discusses Biden’s Court-Packing Threat on Fox Business

December 8, 2021 | Fox Business

On December 8, 2021, EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow Ed Whelan appeared on Fox Business to discuss President Biden’s commission on…

AUDIO: Ed Whelan Previews Dobbs on Drew Mariani Show

November 23, 2021 | The Drew Mariani Show

On November 23, 2021, EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow Ed Whelan appeared on the Drew Mariani Show to preview oral arguments…

VIDEO: Ed Whelan on C-SPAN on President Trump’s SCOTUS List

September 14, 2020 | C-SPAN - Washington Journal

On September 14, 2020, EPPC President Ed Whelan appeared on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal to discuss President Trump’s recent additions to his…

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