Anne Harkavy is the executive director of Democracy Forward and the Democracy Forward Foundation, left-leaning litigation and advocacy organizations created in 2016 to attack the Trump administration. She has a history as an attorney and operative in the Democratic Party.

Harkavy is married to David W. Ogden, former Deputy U.S. Attorney General under the Obama administration. ¹

Career

Harkavy began her career as a clerk to the Judge Paul Niemeyer, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. ² After her time as a clerk, Harkavy entered private practice and spent 15 years at WilmerHale LLP, one of the largest law firms in the United States. ³ Harkavy became a partner at WilmerHale and served as vice chair of the firm’s government and regulatory litigation group, representing clients in congressional investigations, trials with a government element, and appellate litigation. ⁴

In 2013, Harkavy left private practice and joined President Barack Obama’s administration, serving as deputy general counsel for litigation and enforcement in the United States Department of Energy. ⁵ Harkavy oversaw all department litigation, in addition to overseeing the energy efficiency standards enforcement program, which was expanded during her tenure. ⁶

Following the election of President Donald Trump, Harkavy left her post in the Department of Energy. In May of 2017, Harkavy was named executive director of Democracy Forward and the Democracy Forward Foundation. ⁷ Democracy Forward and the Foundation are left-of-center litigation and advocacy groups organized by high level Democratic Party operatives following the 2016 presidential election. Democracy Forward and the Democracy Forward Foundation operate as one organization, sharing a staff.

The group was founded specifically to attack the Trump administration through lawsuits and court proceedings, citing a desire to “expose the rampant corruption of the Executive Branch.” ⁸ Harkavy leads a group of other high level liberal and Democratic Party officials at the organization, including Hillary Clinton’s top campaign lawyer Marc Elias, Clinton campaign manager John Podesta, and the political director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). ⁹

Since taking the helm of Democracy Forward, Harkavy has spoken on behalf of the organization in numerous lawsuits and group actions. Harkavy led a lawsuit claiming that the Trump administration violated the Constitution by cutting Obamacare’s advertising budget and allowing additional coverage plans to be sold on the market. ¹⁰ In 2018 and 2019, Harkavy orchestrated lawsuits challenging Trump’s selection of Robert Wilkie to be Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, ¹¹ called on the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate Trump’s relationship with Fox News,¹² and alleging Secretary of State Mike Pompeo broke the law by refusing to address Trump’s seizure of an interpreter’s notes. ¹³

During June 2019, Harkavy also served as the lead attorney on behalf of Planned Parenthood and the ACLU when the groups sued the Trump administration over a rule that allows health care workers to refuse to perform abortion, sterilization, and voluntary euthanasia procedures if they have religious objections. ¹⁴ Harkavy argued on behalf of her clients that such a rule amounts to a violation of the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. ¹⁵ In August 2019, Harkavy launched another lawsuit against the Trump administration’s deregulation of whole grains in school lunches. ¹⁶

Political Activity

Harkavy has been involved directly in Democratic politics since 2004 when she served as deputy national counsel for John Kerry’s presidential campaign. ¹⁷ She remained directly involved in politics, serving as the senior legal advisor to the general counsel for Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. ¹⁸

From 2004 to 2019, Harkavy made 25 political contributions totaling $20,219.51, all to left-of-center organizations and candidates. ¹⁹ Harkavy made more contributions to Barack Obama than she made to any other candidate or group, giving $10,900 to Obama-affiliated groups between the 2008 and 2012 election cycles²⁰

During the 2016 election cycle, Harkavy supported Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, donating $3,169.51 to Hillary for America. ²¹ Since the end of the 2016 election, Harkavy has only contributed to ActBlue, a left-of-center crowdfunding platform for financing Democratic political campaigns. ²²

1. Johnson, Carrie, and Robert Barnes. “Solicitor General and Deputy Attorney General Named.” The Washington Post. WP Company, January 5, 2009. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/01/05/solicitor_general_and_deputy_a.html.
2. “Anne Harkavy.” Duke TIP Alumni, August 20, 2015. https://alumni.tip.duke.edu/team_member/anne-harkavy/.
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7. “Anne Harkavy.” LinkedIn. Accessed August 24, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-harkavy-0173788
8. “About.” Democracy Forward, 2019. https://democracyforward.org/about/.
9. Schoffstall, Joe. “Clinton Lawyer, Podesta Involved With Anti-Trump Litigation Group.” Washington Free Beacon, November 3, 2017. https://freebeacon.com/issues/clinton-lawyer-podesta-involved-with-anti-trump-litigation-group/.
10. “Columbus Et Al. v. Trump.” Democracy Forward, 2019. https://democracyforward.org/lawsuits/columbus-et-al-v-trump/#.XBCXJWhKjIU.
11. Wentling, Nikki. “Lawsuit Claims Trump’s Selection of Wilkie as Acting VA Secretary Was ‘Unlawful’.” Stars

    and Stripes, April 30, 2018. https://www.stripes.com/lawsuit-claims-trump-s-selection-of-wilkie-as-acting-va-secretary-was-unlawful-1.524799.

12. Wise, Justin. “Watchdog Groups Call on EPA to Probe Past Interaction with Fox News.” TheHill, December 13, 2018. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/421219-watchdog-groups-call-on-epa-to-probe.
13. Bergengruen, Vera. “Watchdogs Sue Trump Administration Over Missing Notes From Putin Meeting.” Time. June 18, 2019. https://news.yahoo.com/watchdogs-sue-trump-administration-over-194917395.html.
14. Garfinkel, Noah. “Planned Parenthood, ACLU Sue Trump Administration over ‘Conscience Protections’ Rule.” Washington Examiner, June 11, 2019. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/planned-parenthood-aclu-sue-trump-administration-over-conscience-protections-rule.
15. Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief. Planned Parenthood v. Azar. United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. June 11, 2019. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/PlannedParenthood.pdf
16. Mineiro, Megan. “Trump Administration Challenged Over School Lunch Standards.” CNS, August 5, 2019. https://www.courthousenews.com/trump-administration-sued-over-school-lunch-standards/.
17. “Anne Harkavy.” Duke TIP Alumni, August 20, 2015. https://alumni.tip.duke.edu/team_member/anne-harkavy/.
18. “Anne Harkavy.” Duke TIP Alumni, August 20, 2015. https://alumni.tip.duke.edu/team_member/anne-harkavy/.
19. “Browse Individual Ocntributions: ‘Anne Harkavy.’” FEC.gov. Federal Election Commission, 2019. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=harkavy,+anne&min_date=01/01/1990&max_date=12/31/2020.
20. “Browse Individual Ocntributions: ‘Anne Harkavy.’” FEC.gov. Federal Election Commission, 2019. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=harkavy,+anne&min_date=01/01/1990&max_date=12/31/2020.
21. “Browse Individual Ocntributions: ‘Anne Harkavy.’” FEC.gov. Federal Election Commission, 2019. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=harkavy,+anne&min_date=01/01/1990&max_date=12/31/2020.
22. “Browse Individual Ocntributions: ‘Anne Harkavy.’” FEC.gov. Federal Election Commission, 2019. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=harkavy,+anne&min_date=01/01/1990&max_date=12/31/2020.