No more Patriot Act loophole

Months ago, Alberto Gonzales lied under oath on January 18th when he assured Congress that all U.S. Attorney replacements would be sent to the Senate for approval.  But thanks to a loophole in the Patriot Act, Gonzales can fire the attorneys, hand select new ones, and have them bypass the Senate confirmation process.  Now, Congress is about to do away with that loophole:

The move to overturn an obscure provision of the USA Patriot Act thatallowed the attorney general to appoint federal prosecutors for anindefinite period without Senate confirmation came amid growingspeculation that the controversy over the prosecutors would costAttorney General Alberto R. Gonzales  his job.

On Capitol Hill, members of both parties expressed support forrepealing the Patriot Act provision, expected to be approved Tuesday.Lawmakers said the provision amounted to an end run around senators,who have long had influence in the appointment of home-stateprosecutors. Some senators said the provision was used to clear the wayfor firing prosecutors and replacing them with candidates consideredmore in line with the administration.

Don't the Congressional staffers that insert dirty loopholes like this into bills realize that one day their party will be out of the White House?  The roles will eventually be reversed.  Take the filibuster complaint for example.  Back in 2003 and 2004, Republicans cried foul when Senate Democrats used the filibuster.  Now, the Republicans are using the filibuster to their benefit to help Bush stay the course in Iraq.

Comments

[Tony]

I wonder how the "hand selected Brotherhood" will respond and or feel about this one! Hopefully people that do get appointed will actually be qualified, not just the kid of a friend that needs a job.