Changes Sought in Naming of Prosecutors (NY Times)

By CARL HULSE and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: March 20, 2007
WASHINGTON, March 19 — The Senate moved Monday to revoke authority it granted the Bush administration last year to name federal prosecutors, with Democrats accusing the administration of abusing the appointment power at the center of an escalating clash over the ouster of eight United States attorneys.

The move to overturn an obscure provision of the USA Patriot Act that allowed the attorney general to appoint federal prosecutors for an indefinite period without Senate confirmation came amid growing speculation that the controversy over the prosecutors would cost Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales his job.

President Bush has said he has confidence in Mr. Gonzales, but the White House seemed to offer only tepid support for him on Monday.

"Nobody is prophetic enough to know what the next 21 months hold," the White House press secretary, Tony Snow, said when asked if Mr. Gonzales would remain until the end of Mr. Bush's term. Mr. Bush has said Mr. Gonzales needs to repair his relations with Capitol Hill; asked if the attorney general had done so, Mr. Snow said, "I don't know."

At the Justice Department, neither Mr. Gonzales nor his staff have engaged in a major effort to reverse the erosion of his support among Republicans in Congress, associates said. Mr. Gonzales read budget briefing books over the weekend and on Monday he phoned one or two lawmakers, said one aide, who declined to identify them.