Mukasey Confirmation All But Assured

The recently troubled nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey to be the next Attorney General got a much needed boost today when Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein announced that they would support him. The announcement guaranteed Mukasey at least 11 votes in the Senate Judiciary Committee when the panel meets to vote on his nomination next week. Confirmation by the full Senate is now almost a foregone conclusion.

Mukasey's nomination looked to be in serious trouble earlier today, as Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy became the fifth Democrat on the Judiciary Committee to announce that he would vote against the nominee. Sen. Edward Kennedy had announced his intention to vote against Mukasey yesterday, while three other Committee Democrats, Sens. Dick Durbin, Joe Biden, and Sheldon Whitehouse had announced their plans earlier in the week.

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Democrats on the committee have been pressing Mukasey to clarify his answers to questions regarding the Constitutionality of waterboarding, an aggressive interrogation technique alleged to be used by intelligence officials in the questioning of terrorist detainees. In his confirmation hearings, Mukasey answered that he wasn't aware of the details of waterboarding and so could not comment on the technique's legality. The answer was vague enough for Leahy and Durbin to submit written questions to Mukasey seeking to pin him down on the issue. Mukasey responded by stating his personal belief that the practice itself is "repugnant'" but steadfastly denied to comment further on its legality. For the record, the White House will not publicly confirm or deny that the practice is actually in use.

Mukasey's prospects could have been helped by a White House push for his confirmation, begun on Thursday. Prior to the President's involvement, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain had questioned Mukasey's answers to the waterboarding question. Both Senators have since issued statements confirming their support for him.

By announcing their intentions to vote for Mukasey, Schumer and Feinstein are acting independently of their party hierarchy, which most surely would have liked to either derail the nomination, or force concessions on interrogations from the Bush Administration. Feinstein has a recent history of standing up for qualified individuals and bucking party orthodoxy on the Judiciary Committee. Last week, she was the lone committee Democrat to vote in favor of Judge Leslie Southwick for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Southwick had been target for obstruction by Democrats concerned about the implication of some of his rulings regarding race issues. She also voted in favor of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts when he was in front of the committee, although she later voted against Justice Samuel Alito. Schumer's vote, while principled, was probably more required by circumstances than Feinstein's. Schumer had recommended Mukasey, a fellow New Yorker, to the Bush Administration as a conservative who would be acceptable to Democrats. It would have bee a step too far for Schumer to vote against the very nominee he requested.

Mukasey's nomination next heads to the full Senate, where it is expected that he will be confirmed easily. The confirmation will mark a significant political victory for the Bush Administration, which began to push in favor of their nominee at just the right time to stem a growing tide against him. However, it is not really a setback for Senate Democrats. Mukasey is by all accounts a qualified nominee of great integrity. This is the type of nomination Democrats should want to support, if for no other reason than to fend off charges that they are more interested in a nominee's ideology than his qualifications. Some of the party faithful may feel like Mukasey's eventual confirmation is a betrayal of their support. But this is a short sighted view. Democrats need more than just their ardent left wing to hold onto power in Congress and perhaps take the White House next year. This confirmation vote will only help enhance the party's standing with independents and moderates.


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