Alberto Gonzales Resigns as US Attorney General

The White House has just announced that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is leaving the Justice Department. This can only be good news, as the man just wasn’t up to the job. While the president looks for a replacement, Solicitor General Paul Clement seems to be running the department. There is a rumor that Heimatschutzminister Michael Chertoff will be the next permanent AG, since he’s got fans on Capitol Hill. Whomever the president appoints will have an interesting confirmation process.

Previous confirmations were largely rubber stamp affairs since the GOP controlled the Senate up until January. Now, the Democrats are running things, and any appointee is going to have to demonstrate political and legal competence that hasn’t been a requirement. In addition, the legislators will be looking for some kind of commitment on the appointment of a special prosecutor to delve into the US Attorney firings.

The administration has been very cautious in making appointments to the extent of avoiding them altogether. Either Bush cronies were appointed during Congressional recesses, when constitutionally the appointment runs until the end of the legislative term, or the job is given to an “acting” official. This time, though, will have to be different.

It is one thing to have an acting head of FEMA or appoint an ambassador to the UN during a recess. It will be quite another to let the Attorney General’s position sit vacant. The job is too important, and the questions about AG Gonzales merit serious investigation. Congress will insist on doing things by the book.

With his departure, the last of Mr. Bush’s old Texas crowd has gone. Whether this makes him more or less flexible remains to be seen. However, it is certain that his presidency is spent.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Home