House strips Bush of US Attorneys appointment authority - 329 to 78 [View All]

[kpete]

House Passes U.S.A. Bill
By Paul Kiel - March 27, 2007,

Soon, it will be on it's way to the president's desk. And for those curious about the roll call, only 72 Republicans voted against.

So both houses voted overwhelmingly to ensure Senate confirmation for U.S. attorneys. What a difference a scandal can make.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002885.php

Interim Appointment of U.S. Attorneys
March 26th, 2007 by Jesse Lee

Right now the House is considering H.R. 580, Interim Appointment of U.S. Attorneys. This bill, introduced by Rep. Howard Berman (CA-28), is designed to help better ensure the independence of U.S. Attorneys – by repealing a provision in a 2006 statute that grants the Attorney General the authority to make indefinite interim appointments of U.S. Attorneys, who can then serve indefinitely without Senate confirmation. Upon introducing the bill, Rep. Berman referred to the eight US Attorneys who were asked to resign by the Bush Administration: “My bill will reset the system of checks and balances in the U.S. Attorney confirmation process. It will require Senate confirmation of any interim U.S. attorneys, including any chosen to replace these eight.” A similar bill, S. 214, introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, was passed by the Senate by an overwhelming, bipartisan vote of 94 to 2 on March 20.


Full text of the bill >>http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.00580:

UPDATE: The bill passes, 329 to 78.

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=177