I had no idea what legs the fired district attorney controversy would sprout, but Democrats in Congress seem to be smelling blood and even a few Republicans are calling for Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to step down. Newsweek has the latest. I'm betting that a head or two will have to fall. Congress is threatening to use its subpoena power to force members of the Bush Administration to testify on the matter under oath.
For our purpose, the key story is what it tells us about the relationship between the president and the bureaucracy. United States Attorneys are said to work at the pleasure of the president meaning that if he wants them out, they go. Supporters of President Bush argue that he is not unique in wanting to clear house and bring in his own crew, one loyal to him and his vision of how laws ought to be carried out.
But loyalty can create problems if competence is judged in terms of politics. These firings, critics suggest, were meant to remove those deemed insufficiently political.
This is the danger of service at the pleasure of the president. During the era of patronage, there was no pretense that one's job was anything other than a favor, that one was then expected to support the ruling party by implementing laws in a political manner, and that continuation in that job would be based on anything other than how much political support one had in fact offered.
The chief goal of civil service reform was to professionalize the bureaucracy and remove it from these political pressures. Professional lawyers within the Justice Department were key to this effort. Yet, since they serve at the pleasure of the president--a phrase which has become a bit of a mantra recently--there is always the danger that politcal pressures can creep into the office. In fact, the Attorney General himself has claimed that he serves at the pleasure of the president as well, but that's up for debate since he heads a department established by Congress and had to be confirmed by the Senate before he could hold his office. This is why he is subject to testify before Congress. This is a system of checks and balances and congressional oversight is a key component of those checks.
The precise balance is constantly subject to adjustment based on whatever controversies might be topical. Which is where we are today.
More to come.
