Michael Mukasey Chosen To Be Next Attorney General
Michael Mukasey – retired judge – has been elected by the Senate to replace Alberto Gonzales as the next attorney general. Gonzales lost his position after a scandal over how he handles the Justice Department. Mukasey is officially United States 81st attorney general.
It seems that the decision was not an easy to one for the Senate to make. Many were debating whether he would be a good choice after Mukasey refused to tell them if he thought that the waterboarding interrogation technique is torture. The Republicans were quick to accept him after President Bush nominated him – but the Democrats voted for him because they felt it was time to find a new leader for the deserted Justice Department. He was elected to a vote of 53-40.
The choice, according to one of those Democrats, was essentially between “whether to confirm Michael Mukasey as the next attorney general or whether to leave the Department of Justice without a real leader for the next 14 months,” said one Democratic supporter, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
“This is the only chance we have,” she said, referring to Bush’s threat to appoint an acting attorney general not subject to Senate confirmation.