Besides Mukasey and Olson, others being eyed for the post include former deputy attorney general George Terwilliger; 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge William Wilkins; and former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson, who is general counsel at PepsiCo.

Mukasey has handled terrorist cases in the U.S. legal system for more than 10 years. He was nominated to the federal bench in 1987 by President Reagan and eventually became chief judge of the high-profile federal courthouse in Manhattan.

Mukasey played a key role in one of the most hard-fought post-Sept. 11 terror cases: that of Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen who was arrested in 2002 on a supposed mission to detonate a "dirty bomb."

The judge appointed a lawyer to Padilla, but before a hearing on whether there was sufficient cause to detain Padilla, Bush declared him an enemy combatant. That began a years-long legal ordeal that ended with Padilla back in a different federal court, where he was convicted last month of murder conspiracy.

Despite his experience with the terrorism docket, opponents of Mukasey — especially those who are against abortion — are upset about a 1994 case he handled.

In Dong v. Slattery, Mukasey denied political asylum in the United States to a Chinese man who had fled the communist nation. The man claimed political persecution by Chinese authorities after he and his family violated China's one-child, forced-abortion policies.

The man's wife was forced to undergo an abortion, and he claimed he would be severely punished for helping his wife try to defy the communist policies if he was deported to China. Ruling against the man, Mukasey reasoned that, under the law, he should uphold the Board of Immigration's denial of asylum.

Gonzales quit after 2 1/2 years at the Justice Department amid investigations into whether he broke the law and lied to Congress. He has denied any wrongdoing. Solicitor General Paul Clement will serve as acting attorney general until the Senate confirms Gonzales' successor.

On Friday, his last day at the department, Gonzales was feted at a standing-room-only Justice Department farewell ceremony. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, former White House chief of staff Andy Card and Olson were in the audience.

Olson was in the Democrats' sights last week.

"Ted Olson will not be confirmed," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in foreshadowing a brutal confirmation hearing. "I intend to do everything I can to prevent him from being confirmed as the next attorney general."