Procedural vote implies no confidence in Gonzales

WASHINGTON – A majority of the Senate voted Monday to register “no confidence” in embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a rare rebuke for a Cabinet official.

The 53-38 tally (with one senator voting “present”) came on a procedural vote that fell seven votes short of the 60 needed under Senate rules to close debate and move to the formal vote of “no confidence,” but the majority in favor of doing so left no doubt where most senators stood.

Hours earlier, President Bush made clear that he would ignore the vote in any case. While such a vote isn’t binding, it is rare and could undermine Gonzales’ legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

Seven Republicans joined unanimous Democrats against Gonzales. They included Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine.

Specter said he decided the resolution was in the best interests of the country and the Justice Department, despite his disgust at the “outright political chicanery” of Democrats in forcing the vote.

“Attorney General Gonzales has made representations which are false” and “there is no doubt the department at the present time is in shambles,” Specter said.

But Specter added that the resolution was “designed to embarrass Republicans because it will be a gotcha 30-second commercial in later campaigns.”

In a press release, Snowe said, “I voted to continue debate on the resolution because of my deep concerns regarding the conduct of the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. … I have no confidence in this Attorney General.”

Collins, in a press release announcing her intent to vote to continue debate, said, “I have lost confidence in the ability of Attorney General Gonzales to lead the Department of Justice effectively.”

Rather than defend Gonzales, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the resolution’s sponsor, had a conflict of interest because he leads the Senate Democrats’ campaign committee.

Republican Whip Trent Lott of Mississippi added: “Maybe we should be considering a vote of no confidence in the Senate or in the Congress for malfunction, for an inability to produce anything. This is not the British Parliament, and I hope it never will become the British Parliament.”

Gonzales has been roundly criticized for a failure of leadership in the department’s firing last year of nine U.S. attorneys, which critics see as evidence of his alleged politicization of the administration of justice.

Gonzales further alienated many lawmakers by repeatedly testifying before Congress that he couldn’t recall key conversations with Bush and other White House personnel. His defense of a classified surveillance program involving warrantless wiretaps also turned some lawmakers against him.

Bush, traveling in Bulgaria on Monday, dismissed the Senate’s stand before it occurred.

“This process has been drug out a long time, which says to me it’s political,” Bush said. “There’s no wrongdoing. … I’ll make the determination if I think he’s effective or not, not those who are using an opportunity to make a political statement on a meaningless resolution.”

Gonzales, speaking Monday in Miami, said he was focused on finishing out the remainder of Bush’s second term over the next 18 months.

Other Republicans voting with Democrats were: Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Gordon Smith of Oregon, and John Sununu of New Hampshire.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, voted against shutting off debate. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, voted present.