President Trump is making a major change inside the White House just weeks before the midterm elections, promoting longtime legal ally Will Scharf to serve as White House counsel.
Scharf, 40, will replace David Warrington, who is expected to leave the administration and return to the private sector. The promotion puts Scharf in one of the most consequential legal positions in the executive branch at a particularly interesting moment for Washington.
President Trump announced the move Saturday and left little doubt about his opinion of his new counsel.
“I know Will well!” President Trump wrote on social media, describing Scharf as “tough, strong, and smart.”
“Will Scharf will do a great job as White House Counsel!” he added.
Scharf is hardly walking into unfamiliar territory.
Before becoming White House staff secretary, he served on President Trump’s personal legal team and worked on major legal battles, including the Supreme Court litigation connected to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election interference prosecution.
As staff secretary, Scharf occupied an important position inside the administration, reviewing legal memoranda, executive actions, policy documents and other material headed to the president’s desk. Americans watching White House signing ceremonies have also seen Scharf regularly called upon to explain the legal mechanics behind executive orders.
Now he will be responsible for helping manage the administration’s legal strategy from the White House counsel’s office.
The timing is impossible to ignore.
Republicans are fighting to retain their congressional majorities in the midterms. If Democrats capture the House, the administration could face congressional investigations, subpoenas and oversight battles. Washington discovering another reason to issue subpoenas would hardly qualify as shocking news.
Having an attorney President Trump already knows and trusts in the counsel’s office could therefore prove important.
Scharf has also demonstrated that he is willing to flag legal risks rather than simply approve everything placed in front of him. He previously raised concerns about proposals to suspend habeas corpus rights for illegal immigrants, reportedly preparing a memo warning that such an approach could encounter serious legal challenges.
That is precisely what a competent White House counsel is supposed to do. The job is not merely to tell the president what he wants to hear. It is to identify legal vulnerabilities before opponents, judges and congressional investigators identify them first.
Scharf has also served on the National Capital Planning Commission, where he has been involved with the administration’s plans for changes across Washington.
His background extends well beyond the current White House. Scharf previously worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Missouri and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Missouri attorney general in 2024.
He is also associated with the informal group sometimes called the “Missouri Mafia,” a collection of Missouri-connected Republican legal and political figures holding prominent positions in Washington. The circle includes Sens. Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt, Solicitor General John Sauer, Justice Department official Jesus Osete and FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey.
Scharf even supplied a little accidental comedy last September when a hot microphone caught him joking that “our brand is crisis,” referencing the Sandra Bullock political comedy of the same name.
Considering the workload awaiting a White House counsel, he may want to keep that joke handy.
The promotion ultimately gives President Trump something especially valuable heading into an uncertain post-election environment: a lawyer already familiar with his administration, his agenda and the legal opposition it routinely encounters.
Whether Republicans retain Congress or Democrats gain new investigative powers, the White House is preparing for legal fights.
President Trump has chosen someone he already trusts to be standing in the middle of them.
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