Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Resigns
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has tendered his resignation to President Bush. The resignation will become effective on September 16. Gonzales had come under intense political criticism for his role in the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys in December 2006. Despite the criticism, Bush stood behind Gonzales.Gonzales served as the second attorney general of the George W. Bush administration. He replaced John Ashcroft, who resigned in November 2004 due to health problems.
The nation's first Latino attorney general, Gonzales was confirmed by a 60-36 vote of the Senate in February 2005. The confirmation was opposed by Senators who objected to Gonzales’ role as White House counsel in the creation of a 2002 executive department memo approving the torture of terrorism suspects under certain conditions.
The attorney general oversees the U.S. Department of Justice, a Cabinet-level department. Like all other Cabinet secretaries, the attorney general is nominated by the president and must be confirmed by a simple majority vote of the Senate. The only qualification is that a department secretary cannot be a member of Congress or hold any other elected office.
Photo: Alberto Gonzales -- Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Comments
An MSNBC pundit commented this morning that Republicans are a bit more relieved than they will admit, and Democrats are a bit more disappointed than they will admit, over the news that Alberto Gonzales has finally stepped down.
His resignation was inevitable because of the political problems he caused for Republicans, especially those seeking reelection in 2008. Not because of his support of torture, his astonishing disregard of the U.S. Constitution, or his lying to Congress.