Key Justice Department Positions Unfilled

[flashl]

Several Top Positions at Justice Department Unfilled

Although Congress Has Blocked Some Candidates, Bush Has Not Offered Nominees for Every Job

As Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey nears the end of his second month, many of the Justice Department's top positions remain vacant or filled with temporary appointees with no replacements in sight, according to legislative aides and Bush administration officials.

Several positions are open because lawmakers have blocked the administration's nominees, including Steven G. Bradbury, whose appointment as head of the Office of Legal Counsel is opposed by Democrats because of his role in writing secret memos allowing coercive interrogation techniques.

But most of the positions, particularly those in U.S. attorney's offices, are unfilled because the Bush administration has yet to propose permanent candidates, according to legislative aides and Justice records.

Only four of the nine U.S. attorneys fired as part of a coordinated purge in 2006 have been replaced with Senate-approved prosecutors. The administration has not offered nominees for the remaining five posts.

Overall, 19 of the nation's 93 U.S. attorneys are currently acting or interim prosecutors, but only three nominations for those slots have been received by the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to the panel's chairman, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.).

"The White House has made an abysmal effort to send nominees to the Senate to replace the fired U.S. attorneys and to fill vacancies in those districts and many others," Leahy said last week.

Justice officials say 11 department nominations are pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee or on the Senate floor, including nominations of candidates for deputy attorney general, associate attorney general and civil rights chief.

...

The vacancies pose a lingering challenge for Mukasey, who took over a department nearly emptied of senior leadership after a political uproar over the prosecutor firings and other scandals. Mukasey's predecessor, Alberto R. Gonzales, left in September after his deputy, his third-in-command and more than a dozen other senior managers resigned.

...

From the other side of the aisle, three Republican senators have placed holds on the nomination of Michael Sullivan, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is part of the Justice Department. Sullivan also serves double duty as the U.S. attorney in Boston.

Sens. Larry E. Craig and Michael D. Crapo of Idaho, along with Sen. David Vitter (La.), cite complaints from some gun-rights organizations that the ATF has been too aggressive in penalizing gun owners and dealers for minor infractions and paperwork errors. Senate rules allow one or more lawmakers to block a floor vote by placing a hold on the nomination.

Washington Post - Read Full Text

Did you miss the part about Sen. Larry E. Craig?

[Jacobin]

1. Waiting for new graduates from the Holy Roller Law School?

[flashl]

3. Wasn't Liberty U training an army of lawyers for culture wars like the war on Xmas?

[annabanana]

2. He's been dreaming of a Winter Recess!

Too bad that Congress will not be shutting down for the holidays.

[rpannier]

4. ...three Republican senators have placed holds on the nomination of Michael Sullivan

I see.

When the republikkans place holds on nominees and/or bills harry reid decides to honor them.

When Sen Dodd (DEMOCRAT) places a hold he ignores it.