Bush Announces New Acting AG Pick

Bush threw an unexpected change-up in his announcement this morning. Towards the end of his remarks about his nomination of Michael Mukasey as attorney general, he also said that outgoing Justice Department official Peter Keisler would serve as the acting attorney general until Mukasey is confirmed.

The administration had said that Solicitor General Paul Clement would serve as the acting attorney general. But Keisler, who announced his retirement from the Department two weeks ago, will apparently stick around in his stead.

That’s a move likely to provoke Democrats, who had been signaling that they’d block Keisler’s pending nomination to the D.C. Court of Appeals. Keisler was first nominated in last year and was renominated this year. Only this May, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) warned that Keisler’s nomination was “controversial.” As a result, Keisler will now be in the odd position as acting attorney general of having to deal with the Democrats who are holding up his still-pending nomination.

Among the strikes against Keisler for Democrats was the fact that he’s a co-founder of the conservative Federalist Society. He also “oversaw the Bush administration’s lengthy legal fight over the rights of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.”

In March, Keisler, who has been serving as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division and previously served as Associate Counsel to President Reagan, made an appearance on The Washington Post‘s front page. Keisler was one of the three political appointees fingered by a career prosecutor who claimed they repeatedly ordered her to take steps that weakened the government’s racketeering case against tobacco companies.

So it would seem that Democrats would be less willing to bide their time with Mukasey’s nomination with Keisler there instead of Clement. We shall see.

Here’s Bush’s announcement from the press conference this morning:

Peter Keisler will serve as acting attorney general. Accepting this assignment requires Peter to delay the departure date he announced this month, and I appreciate his willingness to do so. While Peter’s the acting Attorney General, Paul Clement, who agreed to take on this role, will be focused on duties as solicitor general so he can prepare for the Supreme Court term that begins just two weeks from today.