Michael Velchik

Velchik is from Oakton, Virginia, and attended St. Albans School, graduating in 2008.^[3][4][5] He later attended Harvard University, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in 2012 and his Juris Doctor in 2016.^[6] Velchik was a member of the Harvard men's lightweight rowing team.^[5]

As a senior in 2011, he submitted a Latin paper from the perspective of Hitler for an assignment.^[1][7] Velchik was subsequently asked by his professor to redo the paper.^[1][8] Velchik delivered the Latin address at Harvard's 2012 commencement ceremony.^[4][9]

In 2025, during the second Trump Administration, Velchik joined the Department of Justice as senior counsel.^[10]

In May 2025, he defended the administration's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act against illegal immigrants.^[11][12]

He is one of the leading figures in the administration's actions against Harvard University, which included cancelling federal grants and contracts on the basis of the university's alleged violations of civil rights law by purported fostering of antisemitism on campus.^[13] Velchik was the sole lawyer arguing against the university and American Association of University Professors in Boston in July 2025.^[14][15][16]