House OKs striking law on U.S. attorneys

WASHINGTON — The House approved a bill Monday that would fix a provision in the Patriot Act that allows the attorney general to put interim U.S. attorneys in place for an indefinite amount of time without Senate confirmation.

The change is at the heart of the recent controversy surrounding the Bush administration's firing of eight U.S. attorneys due to the timing of its passage into law and the Justice Department's still-unclear decisionmaking process on which attorneys needed to be replaced. The Senate passed a similar bill last week and the White House said Monday that it will not oppose the legislation.

Reps. Rob Bishop and Rep. Chris Cannon , both R-Utah, voted against the bill while Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, voted for it. The bill passed 329-78.

Cannon objected to the change because it goes back "to a system where judges appoint the prosecutors who will appear before them," which he said "presents serious separation of powers and impartial administration of justice issues."

Prior to the Patriot Act reauthorization that changed the process, if a U.S. attorney spot was vacant, the attorney general appointed an interim U.S. attorney. If the Senate did not approve a new person in 120 days, the district judge would appoint a replacement until a new nominee would be named and confirmed.

But in July 2003, Dan Collins, associate deputy attorney general in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, suggested to William Moschella, the associate deputy attorney general, the idea of "eliminating the district courts' role in selecting interim USAs," according to an e-mail released by the Justice Department.

Brett Tolman , now the U.S. attorney for Utah, put the provision in the Patriot Act reauthorization passed in early 2006 while he was working for the Senate Judiciary Committee, based on e-mails released by the Justice Department and statements made by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who was the chairman of the committee at the time.

E-mails from November 2005 show Moschella explaining different options to Tolman including a "more comprehensive fix" that would allow an interim U.S. attorney to serve until the president nominated a new person. Moschella explained that "judges should not be appointing USA's period for separation of powers issue."

Tolman tells Moschella, "I will get the comprehensive fix done." The bill became law a few months later but the bill passed Monday would revert to the court appointing an attorney until a new one is confirmed.