Yesterday the Senate nearly unanimously passed S.214, “Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act of 2007.” The vote was 94-2, with only Republicans Chuck Hagel and Kit Bond voting against it. The bill removes the authority of the Attorney General, granted by the Patriot Act, to appoint US attorneys without confirmation from the Senate.
I haven’t been able to find any statements Hagel or articles that explain his vote. Hagel had previously said that he had lost confidence in Gonzales because of this scandal, but this vote suggests that he still wants Gonzalez to retain power to fill US attorney vacancies.
At bare minimum Hagel’s vote shows that he will use his office to support President Bush, even if it means opposing the overwhelming majority of his Republican cohorts in the Senate.
Technorati Tags: Chuck Hagel, US Attorneys
March 21st, 2007 at 12:04 pm
So now the judicial branch should start making appointments for the Executive Brancj?. Lets have the attorney general appointing Senate staffers, and how about having the House appoint Federal judges. I guess we need to re-establish the indepence of the judiciary again, like the days when Bobby Kennedy was eavesdropping on Martin Luther King’s telephone calls.
March 21st, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Actual the idea is to have the Senate return to its role confirming executive branch nominations for the US attorneys. That’s how it was before the Patriot Act was passed.
Nice faux concern though.