Edley, who has taught at Harvard since 1981, has also served as director of the Law School's public interest programs.

A White House aide in the Carter administration, Edley said in an interview with The Crimson earlier this week that he had always planned on going back to Washington "the minute a Democrat was elected."

Tribe confirmed yesterday, through his secretary, that he is a candidate for solicitor general, a top Justice Department post. A pre-eminent constitutional scholar and well-known appellate advocate, Tribe has some experience in Washington. He was considered instrumental in killing President Ronald Reagan's 1987 nomination of Judge Robert Bork, giving several hours of Senate testimony on the nominee.

And Tribe, who as solicitor general would argue on behalf of the government in cases before the Supreme Court, has argued against the government in Supreme Court cases.

Earlier this week, he took himself off a case before the nation's highest court in which he was representing the Cheyenne River Sioux against the state of South Dakota.

Tribe said he withdrew from the case to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, since he would have been representing a private party while being considered for a government post.

However, he said the fact that he decided to take himself off the case didn't mean that he had inside knowledge about the chances of his being selected. He told the Boston Globe earlier this week that he has "no idea what his prospects are," but that he is interested in the position.

Tribe, who graduated from the Law School in 1966, has taught at Harvard since 1968. He has written widely on constitutional law and on abortion.

David P. Bardeen, Stephen E. Frank, Rajath Shourie and Anna D. Wilde wrote this article.