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After a routine Supreme Court argument on Wednesday, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked the lawyer who had represented the government to return to the lectern.

“You have just presented your 160th argument before this court, and I understand it is intended to be your last,” the chief justice told the lawyer, Edwin S. Kneedler, who is retiring as a deputy solicitor general. “That is the record for modern times.”

Chief Justice Roberts talked a little more, with affection and high praise, thanking Mr. Kneedler for his “extraordinary care and professionalism.”

Then something remarkable happened. Applause burst out in the courtroom, and that led to a standing ovation for Mr. Kneedler, with the justices joining, too.

“It was a rare moment of unanimity and spontaneous joy from all nine justices on the bench,” said Richard Lazarus, a law professor at Harvard. “They were all beaming.”

Kannon Shanmugam, a veteran Supreme Court lawyer, said it was “one of the most electric moments I’ve ever seen in the courtroom.”

The tribute to Mr. Kneedler’s candor and integrity came against the backdrop of a different kind of courtroom behavior. In the early months of the second Trump administration, its lawyers have been accused of gamesmanship, dishonesty and defiance, and have been fired for providing frank answers to judges.

Mr. Kneedler presented a different model, former colleagues said.

“Ed is the embodiment of the government lawyer ideal — one whose duty of candor to the court and interest in doing justice, not just winning a case, always carried the day,” said Gregory G. Garre, who served as solicitor general under President George W. Bush.

Mr. Shanmugam said Mr. Kneedler’s loyalty was to the rule of law. “He would much rather get the law right at the risk of losing,” Mr. Shanmugam said, “than win at the cost of misrepresenting the law.”

Seth P. Waxman, who was solicitor general in the Clinton administration, said Mr. Kneedler was the opposite of a partisan.

“In all the years that I worked with Ed in the Justice Department, I did not know his politics,” Mr. Waxman said.

Mr. Kneedler joined the Office of the Solicitor General, the elite unit of the Justice Department that represents the federal government in the Supreme Court, in 1979, served in many administrations and helped tutor the solicitors general who came and went.

“I was incredibly lucky to have Ed as a deputy when I was S.G.,” Justice Elena Kagan, who served as solicitor general in the Obama administration, said in a statement. “There’s pretty much no legal question he can’t answer. And he has a bone-deep understanding of the traditions and ethos of the S.G.’s office.”

She added: “I learned from him every day, and I did my job far better because he was there. In all the time I’ve spent in government, I’ve never known a finer public servant.”

That was something like a consensus view among former solicitors general. Mr. Waxman, for instance, called Mr. Kneedler “a national treasure.”

Noel J. Francisco, the solicitor general in the first Trump administration, said that Mr. Kneedler was “not just a font of knowledge, but of wisdom.”

Elizabeth B. Prelogar, the solicitor general in the Biden administration, said that “Ed Kneedler represents the very best of what it means to be a lawyer for the United States.”

Mr. Kneedler’s retirement is part of a wave of departures from the solicitor general’s office, which is quite small. After the solicitor general and a handful of deputies, there are just 16 line lawyers. About half of them are leaving, The Washington Post reported this month.

Mr. Kneedler, 79, did not respond to requests for an interview. When he received an award this month from the University of Virginia’s law school, his alma mater, he said he was “a career civil servant, not in the press if I can avoid it.”

At the ceremony, Mr. Kneedler gave extended remarks, making points that in another era might have seemed unremarkable. These days, they verged on provocative.

Calling himself a “citizen lawyer,” he praised the many federal employees he had worked with, saying he had been impressed by their “compassion and understanding for our country, and dedication to our country.”

He said his office analyzed legal issues with rigor and care, at least in cases on the court’s regular docket. Since Mr. Trump took office in January, the government has filed a torrent of emergency applications on what critics call the court’s shadow docket.

“When we don’t have emergencies like we have a number of now,” Mr. Kneedler said, “we have a very structured decision-making process.”

Leslie Kendrick, the Virginia law school’s dean, asked Mr. Kneedler a few questions, one of which was premised on his office’s “commitment to providing nonpartisan representation for the United States, regardless of cause, regardless of the political leadership of the other two branches.”

Mr. Kneedler did not quite adopt the premise. “We are lawyers for the United States,” he said, “and the administration in office is the ultimate determiner of what the interests of the United States are.”

But he ended his remarks on a hopeful note. “We’re all part of a process that is leading us to a more perfect union,” he said, “which means a union in which we are coming together, not apart.”

Before the standing ovation at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Chief Justice Roberts, himself a veteran of the solicitor general’s office, added what he called a personal note as he spoke to Mr. Kneedler.

“I recall that on two occasions you and I argued on the same side here, me representing a private client and you the United States,” the chief justice said. “We lost each of those cases. I’m sure it was my fault. Mr. Kneedler, thank you for your outstanding service to court and country.”

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Labour makes huge decision on future of £250million M5 motorway project

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A major road development has been given the green light to go ahead, which could have huge benefits for drivers and local communities in the West Midlands.

The M5 Junction 10 Improvements Scheme has been granted development consent by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.

The original application was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate by Gloucestershire County Council on December 19, 2023, and was accepted the following month.

Following an extensive call for evidence, which involved locals, consultants and other interested parties, recommendations were sent to the Transport Secretary in March.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailingmotoring@gbnews.uk

The M5 Junction 10 Improvements Plan

The M5 Junction 10 Improvements Plan is set to be completed in the coming years

GLOUCESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

The scheme will now go ahead with the aim of improving Junction 10, which has been backed by Gloucestershire County Council.

It will also see a new road linking J10 to West Cheltenham, widen the A4019, east of Junction 10, and provide separate, dedicated footways and cycle lanes for non-motorised traffic along local roads.

The link road will connect the A4019 to the B4634 in west Cheltenham, while the Improvements Plan also includes provisions for flood mitigation.

Gloucestershire County Council said the scheme was a “major milestone” which will bring “significant transport and economic benefits” across the region.

The M5 Junction 10 scheme has been estimated to cost around £249million

GLOUCESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Preparation works will begin in the coming months, with construction set to start from spring 2026.

The current aim is for the project to be completed in 2028.

The council added: “The improvements are designed to unlock access to planned housing and employment development sites in the west and north of Cheltenham, with those developers benefiting from the infrastructure contributing to the cost of the scheme.

“The scheme will also increase capacity and improve connectivity in west and north-west Cheltenham, making the road network more resilient and sustainable for years to come.”

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Local residents will continue to be given the opportunity to share feedback and how it could impact their day-to-day lives.

Funding of the scheme is being provided by the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund, which is administered by Homes England.

Over the next six weeks, challenges can be made to the High Court, with it deciding whether there are grounds for a judicial review.

The whole proposal is expected to cost around £249million, with drivers set to see major benefits soon.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander gave the green light for the project this afternoon

PA

Councillor David Gray, cabinet member for environment and planning, praised the ongoing development of the project.

He said: “We’re thrilled that the Planning Inspectorate has accepted our application for development consent for the M5 Junction 10 Improvements Scheme.

“Reaching this key milestone takes us another step further in the planning process and is testament to the thorough and hard work of the project team involved in progressing the scheme.”

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