1 Boring Old Man

Mukasey Wins Vote in Senate, Despite Doubts

Six Democrats joined 46 Republicans and one independent in approving the judge, with his backers praising him as a strong choice to restore morale at the Justice Department and independently oversee federal prosecutions in the final months of the Bush administration. Thirty-nine Democrats and one independent opposed him.

“The Department of Justice needs Judge Mukasey at work tomorrow morning,” said Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee. “The Department of Justice has been categorized as dysfunctional and in disarray. It is in urgent need of an attorney general.” But Democrats said Mr. Mukasey’s refusal to characterize waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, as illegal torture disqualified him from taking over as the nation’s top law enforcement official.

Senate Narrowly Confirms Mukasey as Attorney General

The Senate reluctantly confirmed the nomination of Michael B. Mukasey to become the 81st attorney general late Thursday night despite widespread displeasure over his answers about the constitutionality of a brutal interrogation tactic used on terrorism suspects. The 53 to 40 vote to confirm President Bush’s choice to replace Alberto Gonzales was the closest vote in more than 50 years for someone confirmed to be the nation’s top law enforcement officer. Republicans and some Democrats argued that Mukasey was the best nominee lawmakers could hope for in the waning months of the Bush administration, and that it was unlikely the president would send up another nomination if Mukasey were rejected. After initially being trumpeted on both sides of the aisle as a "consensus nominee", the retired New York federal judge received just six votes from Democrats and one from independent Joseph Lieberman [Conn.] while he was unanimously supported by the 46 Republicans on hand for the late-night vote.

The debate turned on the now-familiar themes of Mukasey’s views on an interrogation technique known as waterboarding, something he called "repugnant" but declined to declare as unconstitutional torture because he said he hadn’t been briefed on the administration’s interrogation practices. "Torture should not be what America stands for," said Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who once predicted an easy confirmation but was startled by the nominee’s answers in his second day of confirmation hearings last month.

Last night’s vote came three weeks after that Oct. 18 hearing, a roller-coaster ride in which Mukasey’s nomination came close to being rejected in committee. The four-hour debate turned largely into an internal argument among Democrats, as Republicans ceded large chunks of their floor time to the few members of the majority who supported Mukasey. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), whose votes were instrumental in Mukasey’s nomination surviving the Judiciary Committee’s review earlier this week, both argued that the nominee’s views on torture were inexcusable but otherwise praised him as someone who would clean up a Justice Department widely viewed as overly politicized under Gonzale’s nearly three-year tenure.

To me, the issue is whether this man will work at re-establishing the DoJ as a credible law enforcement agency. I expect it’s more likely than not. We can only hope that he’ll be a more rational choice than John Ashcroft or Alberto Gonzales [We’re not operating at a very high standard here]. I can’t find evidence that he’s in the Federalist Society like the alternative, acting AG Peter Keisler. Senator Chuck Schumer says, "While he is certainly conservative, Judge Mukasey seems to be the kind of nominee who would put rule of law first and show independence from the White House, our most important criteria. For sure we’d want to ascertain his approach on such important and sensitive issues as wiretapping and the appointment of US attorneys, but he’s a lot better than some of the other names mentioned and he has the potential to become a consensus nominee." Shumer’s a smart guy. I hope he’s being straight with us, and not just pushing some New York pal.