AG Nominee Cox Defends 110+ Amicus Briefs, Faces Questions on Alaska Priorities

Attorney General-designee Stephen Cox defended signing Alaska onto approximately 110 amicus briefs in eight months during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing Friday. Senators questioned whether these national cases distract from Alaska-specific priorities like domestic violence prosecution.

Cox told the committee that Alaska has joined multi-state amicus briefs for decades. The state was asked to join well over 1,000 briefs in the last 20 years and joined more than 500 in the last seven years. But his pace of 13 to 14 briefs per month represents more than double the 5.9 monthly rate under previous administrations. The Alaska Attorney General's office stopped providing public links to amicus briefs Cox signs, citing resource constraints. The change has raised transparency concerns as the volume of briefs increased.

Former Attorney General Bruce Botelho testified in opposition to Cox's confirmation. He called Cox a chief cultural warrior rather than chief legal officer. Botelho cited Cox's decision to relitigate the Katie John subsistence case and his participation in approximately 110 cases of what Botelho described as ideological litigation with no Alaska-specific necessity.

Those briefs included opposing birthright citizenship, challenging DEI programs, and supporting forced arbitration in nursing homes. Botelho singled out Cox's position on birthright citizenship as carrying profound and harmful implications for Alaskans in the military, on work visas, and in mixed status families.

Cox acknowledged dedicating one attorney position primarily to reviewing multi-state amicus briefs. That attorney spends roughly a third of their time on the work. He said the review is narrow because Alaska is not asked to edit or rewrite briefs drafted by other state attorneys general.

"The way that we sort of think about those issues is that each of these briefs presents a legal issue that will ultimately be litigated, whether it's in Alaska or whether it's in other courts of appeal or all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, and ultimately will govern Alaskans, because that's how these sort of court decisions play out," Cox said.

Among the briefs Cox signed were an amicus brief in Watson v. Republican National Committee seeking clarity on election day rules and consideration of Alaska's unique geography and transportation challenges. Another was a West Virginia-led brief in September 2024 opposing lawsuits against energy producers for activities dating back to World War II, joined by Alaska, Iowa, Georgia, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.

Senator Loki Tobin pressed Cox on resource allocation. She noted he had not mentioned missing and murdered Indigenous women in his opening remarks despite discussing his work with then-Attorney General on the issue. Cox initially listed Anchorage quality-of-life crime as the first challenge he mentioned, before domestic violence and sexual assault.

"With respect, I don't want anyone to mistake what I said," Cox later clarified. "That is not the top priority of the department. It is the first thing I mentioned with respect to new challenges that we have faced. The top priority, top priority, always will always be until we deal with the scourge of this problem of sexual assault and domestic violence."

The hearing also surfaced sharp disagreement over birthright citizenship. Cox told Senator Gary Stevens he has become convinced over 20 years that the 14th Amendment requires not just birth on U.S. territory but also allegiance and freedom from foreign jurisdiction.

"My view of the Constitution under the 14th Amendment is that it is not simply birth on the territory, that you also have to be not subject to the foreign jurisdiction, and that there has to be some kind of allegiance," Cox said.

Stevens pushed back, calling birthright citizenship fundamental to American history. "Something I've always loved about American history, no matter who you are and where you come from, whatever your wealth, whatever your religion, whatever your background, if you come to this country and you have a child and they're born in this country, they are a citizen of this country," Stevens said.

Committee Chair Matt Claman questioned why Cox would sign Alaska onto an amicus brief taking a position Cox himself said he does not expect the Supreme Court to uphold. Cox said he consults with the governor's office on matters of law and policy. He would not have taken that position without consulting the governor.

Cox also faced questions about his limited Alaska experience. He joined the Alaska Bar in May 2025 after moving to the state in 2021. He has not tried a case in Alaska and has not argued before the Alaska Supreme Court. He said he relied on the expertise of Department of Law attorneys who love their state and are the best lawyers for Alaska.

The committee voted to forward Cox's name to a joint session for consideration. The motion noted the vote does not reflect individual members' intent to vote for or against confirmation.

Cox was appointed by Governor Mike Dunleavy in August 2024 after former Attorney General Treg Taylor stepped down to run for governor. Cox previously worked as in-house counsel for Apache Corporation and served at the U.S. Department of Justice from 2017 through 2020.