Spencer A. Overton

Spencer A. Overton

Spencer A. Overton was recently appointed to the position of principal deputy in the Office of Legal Policy (OLP) in the U.S. Department of Justice.

The OLP is responsible for developing and implementing policy initiatives for the Department of Justice. It often handles special projects related to the interests of multiple officials within the Department of Justice, acting as a coordination point for all other relevant elements of the department, as well as with other agencies within the executive branch of the federal government. In addition, OLP’s assistant attorney general serves as the primary policy advisor to both the U.S. attorney general and the deputy attorney general.

As the OLP’s principal deputy, Overton ranks second-in-command in the office.

Overton played a significant role in President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, serving as chair of the Government Reform Policy Group and on the National Finance Committee. Overton and Obama were schoolmates at the Harvard Law School, and Overton has worked on all of the president’s past political campaigns.

To assume his new position, Overton had to resign from his previous post as senior fellow of The Jamestown Project, a Cambridge-based public policy think tank.

“While Spencer has had to resign from his position … in order to serve the country in this important capacity, our loss is the country’s gain,” The Jamestown Project said in a statement. “Please join us as we applaud Spencer as he undertakes this important responsibility at this historic time for our country.”