A perk of being the solicitor general of the United States is getting to hand pick which cases to personally argue before the U.S. Supreme Court. You may even decide some cases aren’t worth defending.

But when the justices agreed to hear arguments in October as to whether Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act bars employers from discriminating against gay and lesbian employees, an issue that’s created a circuit split and drawn intense public interest, Solicitor General Noel Francisco said he knew he would be expected to argue the government’s position that it does not.