Mukasey: The day after

Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Sept. 17, 2007. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

by James Oliphant

Michael Mukasey was confirmed by the Senate last night as attorney general, just in time for your late local news. The vote was a squeaker, 53-40, with Democrats pounding the former federal judge for refusing to brand “waterboarding” as illegal torture.

Here is some reaction to the vote:

President Bush released a statement last night from his ranch in Crawford, Tex, which read:

Judge Mukasey’s confirmation comes at a critical moment for the Justice Department and for our Nation. As Attorney General, Judge Mukasey will lead the Justice Department as it works to protect the American people – whether from drug traffickers and other criminals on our streets or from terrorists who seek to attack our homeland.

Now that Judge Mukasey has been confirmed, I look forward to working with the Senate to fill the other senior leadership positions at the Justice Department so that America has the strongest, most capable national security team during this time of war.

Curt Levey, who runs an advocacy group, the Committee for Justice, promoting White House judicial nominees, said:

We’re excited about Judge Mukasey’s confirmation. Mukasey’s keen intellect, his unassailable integrity and independence, and his devotion to public service will make him a great attorney general, both with regard to the overall effectiveness of the Justice Department and the issue with which CFJ has the greatest concern – the confirmation of federal judges.

Levey urged the Senate to make the confirmation of judicial appellate nominees a priority in the administration's final year. Their ranks include, ironically, Peter Keisler, who had been running the Justice Department on an interim basis.

Conversely, People For the American Way, a civil rights group, said it was deeply disappointed by the Senate’s action. A statement from the group’s public policy director, Tanya Clay House, states:

We know that the Justice Department is in dire need of new leadership. But the nation is in even greater need of an Attorney General who can be counted on to uphold our Constitution and laws, to which this White House has demonstrated its indifference. Mukasey failed to make it clear that he would fulfill that role. That is why we have joined other civil rights groups in opposing his confirmation.”

The support of Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) may leave some marks among unforgiving Democratic activists. Some are calling on Dems to withhold contributions to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee that Schumer chairs as retaliation for his vote.

Mukasey garnered the least support of any attorney general nominee in 55 years. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D) voted against Mukasey. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was in Iowa and not present for the vote. Neither were his fellow presidential candidates Sens. Joseph Biden (Del.), Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) and Chris Dodd (Conn.).

Mukasey is expected to be sworn in as attorney general Friday afternoon.