President Bush’s nomination of retired federal judge Michael B. Mukasey to be the nation’s 81st attorney general is a calculated effort to avoid a knock-down, drag-out fight with Senate Democrats.
And on that count, it is a wise move. There is nothing to be gained from protracted confirmation hearings conducted while an interim attorney general runs the Justice Department in the waning 16 months of the Bush administration.
Certainly, Mukasey is a conservative whose views largely appear to be in keeping with the president’s on matters of national security — and therefore at odds with at least some Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
But he also is the least divisive of the nominees that the administration is said to have been considering. As a federal judge for 19 years, Mukasey comes with the presumption that he will respect the rule of law. That can’t be said for his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales, who drafted the administration’s policies in the war on terror — policies that the U.S. Supreme Court found to be unconstitutional.
We look forward to hearing Mukasey’s responses to questions during Senate confirmation hearings. He is considered an authority on national security. As a judge, he presided over several high profile terrorism cases.
Mukasey also had a hand in the case of Jose Padilla, who recently was convicted in a conventional courtroom on terror-related charges. After the conviction, Mukasey wrote an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal in which he argued that Padilla’s case shows why traditional courts and laws are not well-suited to bringing suspected terrorists to justice.
He said the evidence and information aired during such proceedings give terrorists a “rich source of intelligence.” Mukasey pointed to proposals for a new “adjudicatory framework,” and said Congress has the constitutional authority to establish them.
Such a proposal gives us pause, but at least Mukasey recognizes the legitimate role of lawmakers in creating a justice system for accused terrorists. That is a departure from the Gonzales tenure, in which he was a willing partner in the administration’s quest to expand executive power.
We expect Democrats to conduct detailed inquiries about Mukasey’s qualifications and character. That is their job. But it is not their right to reject nominees because of different policy beliefs.
The nation needs a chief law enforcement officer who will bring credibility to this crucial department. At first blush, it seems Mukasey could fit the bill.
