Senate No-Confidence Vote On Gonzales Today
The Senate is expected to vote late this afternoon on S.J.RES.14, authored by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and intended to formally convey to the White House, Congress's total lack of confidence in embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
“If all senators who have actually lost confidence in Attorney General Gonzales voted their conscience, this vote would be unanimous," said Schumer in a statement on Friday. "However, the President will certainly exert pressure to support the Attorney General, his longtime friend. We will soon see where people’s loyalties lie.”
George W. Bush, of course, stands by his man, calling any such vote "pure political theater" and saying last month that Congress "…ought to get the job done of passing legislation, as opposed to figuring out how to be actors on the political theater stage."
Schumer's resolution couldn’t be more simple and reads as follows:
“Each and every Senator will have to ask what’s more important – fixing the basic functioning of the Justice Department and upholding the rule of law, or voting in lockstep with a President who’s out of touch with the serious problems in his Administration,” said Schumer. “I hope we get strong, bipartisan support for this measure because the President would be hard pressed to ignore such a powerful message.”
The no-confidence resolution is sponsored by 29 Senators, all Democrats except for Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
“Former FEMA director Mike Brown used to be the symbol of this Administration’s lack of competence and credibility, but now we have a new one,” added Schumer. “I know the President thinks Gonzales is doing a ‘heckuva job,’ but sadly, no one else agrees.”
“If all senators who have actually lost confidence in Attorney General Gonzales voted their conscience, this vote would be unanimous," said Schumer in a statement on Friday. "However, the President will certainly exert pressure to support the Attorney General, his longtime friend. We will soon see where people’s loyalties lie.”
George W. Bush, of course, stands by his man, calling any such vote "pure political theater" and saying last month that Congress "…ought to get the job done of passing legislation, as opposed to figuring out how to be actors on the political theater stage."
Schumer's resolution couldn’t be more simple and reads as follows:
Expressing the sense of the Senate that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales no longer holds the confidence of the Senate and of the American people.White House Press Secretary Tony Snow on Sunday called the no-confidence vote “purely symbolic” prompting a response from Schumer, in which the Senior Senator from New York said "make no mistake about it, this vote is both serious and substantive.”
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE.
It is the sense of the Senate that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales no longer holds the confidence of the Senate and of the American people
“Each and every Senator will have to ask what’s more important – fixing the basic functioning of the Justice Department and upholding the rule of law, or voting in lockstep with a President who’s out of touch with the serious problems in his Administration,” said Schumer. “I hope we get strong, bipartisan support for this measure because the President would be hard pressed to ignore such a powerful message.”
The no-confidence resolution is sponsored by 29 Senators, all Democrats except for Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
“Former FEMA director Mike Brown used to be the symbol of this Administration’s lack of competence and credibility, but now we have a new one,” added Schumer. “I know the President thinks Gonzales is doing a ‘heckuva job,’ but sadly, no one else agrees.”
posted by Bob Geiger at 6/11/2007 09:56:00 AM
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