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    No Rush for Mukasey Confirmation Hearing, Say Democrats
    By Elana Schor
    The Hill

    Monday 17 September 2007

    President Bush's choice of Michael Mukasey as the next attorney general won early praise Monday, but Democrats appeared ready to take their time on a confirmation hearing until the administration plays ball on subpoenaed documents that it continues to withhold.

    Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said the White House's willingness to comply with outstanding subpoenas on its program of eavesdropping on suspected terrorists, as well as the recent U.S. attorney firings, would have a direct impact on the timeframe for a Mukasey confirmation.

    "Our focus now will be on securing the relevant information we need so we can proceed to schedule fair and thorough hearings," Leahy said in a statement.

    Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), ranking Republican on the Judiciary panel, expressed hope that "we don't get bogged down into preconditions on the nomination with respect to certain pending requests." Installing new senior leadership at the Justice Department has become even more crucial, Specter added, in light of multiple vacancies among senior staff and shaken morale at the agency.

    Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), a senior leadership and Judiciary member, suggested that White House counsel Fred Fielding meet with Democrats in the coming days to discuss subpoenaed documents with an eye to moving Mukasey quickly through the process.

    "There are concerns about those documents," Schumer told reporters. "We're not dropping those concerns but hopefully there can be a sit-down where an agreement is reached, maybe as part and parcel of a Mukasey confirmation."

    Schumer and other Democrats had floated Mukasey as a potential nominee to succeed former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, touting the former federal judge's balanced record on terrorism cases.

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sounded a note of relief that the White House opted against choosing Ted Olson, the former solicitor general whose political past as a critic of the Clinton administration raised alarms with Democrats.

    But Reid also said he would back Leahy's decision on a timeframe for considering Mukasey, presaging a possible proxy fight wherein Democrats would seek testimony and documents before proceeding to a vote.