Gonzales' Grasp on AG Office Slipping Again

How quickly the conventional wisdom shifts. Just a few weeks ago pundits announced that embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had weathered the political firestorm surrounding the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys early this year and would cling to his office for the time being. On Friday, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) became the sixth GOP Senator to call for Gonzales's resignation, after long hesitating to take that step. Today, the New York Times quotes Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, as saying that Gonzales "might resign rather than face a no-confidence vote in the Senate" perhaps as early as this week. This despite insistence from a Department of Justice spokesman that Gonzales has no intention of resigning, and ridicule by the White House of the no-confidence vote as feature of parliamentary (foreign) governance. An AP story further reports that Specter predicts a sizable number of Republican Senators will oppose Gonzales in that vote, and pointedly notes that the projected vote has failed to draw a public statement of support" from Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). As for whether Gonzales can effectively lead the Justice Department, McConnell said "that's for the president to decide."

UPDATE: From his ranch in Crawford, Texas today, President Bush signalled his continuing support for Gonzales by describing the no-confidence vote as "pure political theater" and declaring that Gonzales "has done nothing wrong."