Well-Received Mukasey Likely To Be Confirmed As Attorney General
October 17th, 2007 by JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief
The Bush administration’s candidate for Attorney General is proving to be a choice who’s quickly picking up bipartisan support — the kind of “consensus” choice many have long sought.
It looks like he now has one powerful and previously balking Democrat nearly in his corner:
The chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee said Tuesday he expects Michael Mukasey to be confirmed as the next U.S. attorney general, succeeding Alberto Gonzales who stepped down amid pressure from lawmakers.
Speaking on the eve of Mukasey’s confirmation hearing before the committee, Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont also said that unlike his predecessor, Mukasey would be independent of the White House.
“There are still some within the administration that want the Department of Justice just to be a political arm of the White House,” Leahy said after a private meeting with the retired federal district court judge. “I want that to change. I think he can change it.â€
In other words: the advance buzz that a doubter like Leahy has gotten about Mukasey has been good and he considers the likely-AG someone who is an independent thinker:
He added: “Judge Mukasey’s answers will signal whether he will be the people’s attorney general or merely the president’s lawyer.â€
President Bush nominated Mukasey last month after Gonzales’ resignation. Leahy said Mukasey, who has drawn bipartisan praise, will likely be confirmed.
“Right now from what I have seen, I would expect him to be confirmed,” Leahy said.
In other words: he’s in.
Mukasey seems to be the same kind of choice as when Robert Gates replaced the highly controversial Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense. Although some Democrats still greatly differ with Gates on policy, he is respected as a kind of government technocrat versus a political partisan. But this doesn’t mean he won’t face some tough questioning, CNN notes:
President Bush’s nominee for attorney general will face tough questioning on a range of hot-button issues — including no-warrant surveillance and torture policy — during confirmation hearings Wednesday.
But warnings of a potentially bumpy confirmation process for Michael Mukasey have given way to predictions of smooth sailing for the retired federal judge.
Even so, as the Washington Post notes, Mukasey’s confirmation is expected to be one of the most bipartisan ever.
The current plan calls for Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), the top Republican on the panel, to meet Mukasey beforehand in the Capitol and walk him into the committee room together for the 10 a.m. hearing.
There, before the cameras, Mukasey is going to be introduced to the committee by a pair of senators who have played leading roles in recent national Democratic campaigns: Joe Lieberman (Conn.), the 2000 vice-presidential nominee who won re-election to the Senate as an independent last year, and Charles Schumer (N.Y.), who as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee helped toss Republicans out of power.
Leahy told Capitol Briefing the atmospherics surrounding the Mukasey confirmation were “tripartisan”.
Even so, Mukasey will be under pressure from civil libertarians to change some things at the Justice Department. Some have lists of questions they will insist politicos ask him. Some will demand he renounce torture.
But it looks like it is a “done deal” for several reasons. He looks quite impressive on several fronts when compared to former Attorney General Gonzales — which really isn’t too difficult a feat. But he also has a solid record and reportedly enjoys an excellent reputation among lawyers and members of both political parties.
Unless there’s some major hitch, this appointment will be seen as one of George Bush’s smarter moves — defusing the Attorney General’s office and the Justice Department from being enmeshed in the powder-keg of political polarization. Democrats and other Bush administration critics may have their differences with Mukasey, but right now all signs suggest that they will consider much him more than just “the President’s lawyer.”
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 at 1:52 am and is filed under Bush Administration, Legal Matters, Michael Mukasey, Republicans, Democrats, Politics, Congress, Law & Legal Matters. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
