Mukasey Confirmation Looks Likely
By EVAN PEREZ
November 2, 2007 5:13 p.m.
WASHINGTON – Two senior Senate Democrats threw their support behind Michael B. Mukasey's nomination to head the Justice Department, turning the tide and likely assuring his confirmation.
Sens. Charles Schumer of New York, and Dianne Feinstein of California, on Friday explained their decision, saying fixing problems and repairing morale at the Justice Department are more important than settling larger political disputes. Concern among some lawmakers over Mr. Mukasey's views on torture, surveillance and presidential power had begun weighing down a nomination that two weeks ago seemed a sure thing.
With those key votes, Mr. Mukasey is virtually assured to win endorsement by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a vote Tuesday. He would then face a full Senate vote, where confirmation is highly likely.
Earlier Friday, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said he would vote against Mr. Mukasey. Mr. Leahy cited Mr. Mukasey's refusal to declare an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, known as waterboarding, as constituting torture.
Mr. Schumer of New York had first suggested Mr. Mukasey, a former top federal judge in New York's southern district, as an attorney general pick or even as a Supreme Court justice. The senator had wavered in recent days on whether he would support Mr. Mukasey, but said he was won over after meeting with the former judge Friday.
"Judge Mukasey is not my ideal choice," Mr. Schumer said. "However, Judge Mukasey, whose integrity and independence is respected even by those who oppose him, is far better than anyone could expect from this administration."
Mr. Mukasey's nomination became bogged down after he declined to declare an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, known as waterboarding, as constituting torture. That dispute reflected a broader one between Congress and the Bush administration over its assertion of broad presidential powers.
The administration's legal position is that the president, when faced with a national security threat, has the constitutional authority to disregard certain laws, including ones that ban torture or restrict warrantless surveillance.
"I am eager to restore strong leadership and independence to the Department of Justice. I like Michael Mukasey. I wish that I could support his nomination. But I cannot," Mr. Leahy said, according to an excerpt from remarks he planned to deliver Friday.
"America needs to be certain and confident of the bedrock principle – deeply embedded in our laws and our values – that no one, not even the president, is above the law."
Mr. Mukasey's responses to questions on presidential power have been vague and conditional. That has reminded some Democrats of the former attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, whose sometimes-clumsy defenses of White House legal opinions eroded his credibility among many lawmakers. Mr. Gonzales resigned under pressure in September.
Mr. Bush Friday defended Mr. Mukasey and couched his argument in national-security terms. "There's going to be another fight on the Senate floor coming next week," he said in an appearance in South Carolina. Mr. Mukasey is "a good man, he's a fair man, he's an independent man, and he's plenty qualified to be the attorney general. And I strongly urge the United States Senate to confirm this man, so that I can have an attorney general to work with to protect the United States of America from further attack."
The president stood alongside Sen. Lindsay Graham, a Judiciary Committee Republican who had previously voiced misgivings over Mr. Mukasey's refusal to take a stand on waterboarding. Sen. Graham has since thrown his support to Mr. Mukasey.
Write to Evan Perez at evan.perez@wsj.com
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