Ashcroft confirmed as Attorney General

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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FEBRUARY 2, 2001

A deeply divided Senate confirmed one-term Missouri Senator John Ashcroft as Attorney General on Thursday, closing a highly contentious battle over President George W. Bush's most controversial nominee.

The last Bush Cabinet member to be confirmed, Ashcroft survived weeks of criticism by civil rights, abortion, and gun control advocates and emerged with overwhelming support from Republicans but little from Democrats. The vote of 58-42 was the closest margin for any Attorney General in recent history.

Democrats said the outcome sent a clear message to Bush on future nominees to the Supreme Court and other appointments. Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said Democrats will use "whatever means necessary" to oppose conservative nominees.

Ashcroft was immediately sworn in as head of the Department of Justice later in the afternoon by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who survived a similar battle when he was named to his position in 1991. The two were colleagues in the Missouri Attorney General office.

After yesterday's vote, Ashcroft promised to enforce and uphold all laws, regardless of his past positions on them. In a statement released by the Justice Department, he also vowed to run the agency "free from politics."

"I will confront injustice by leading a professional Justice Department that is free from politics; that is uncompromisingly fair; a department defined by integrity and dedicated to upholding the rule of law," said Ashcroft.

Awaiting Ashcroft at the Department are a number of controversial issues ranting from the Microsoft anti-trust lawsuit to the war on drugs. He will oversee the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

For tribes, the Department has taken on aggressive and occasionally unpopular roles, playing both advocate and opponent to tribal interests as it acts to uphold the trust responsibilities of the federal government at the same time it sets limits on the government's accountability to Native Americans and tribes. Major issues facing Indian Country under Ashcroft's watch include overcrowded and underfunded tribal law jails, rising crime and drug abuse rates of Indian youth, and the highest rate of domestic violence victimization in the country.

John Breaux (La.), Robert C. Byrd (W.Va.), Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.), Russell Feingold (Wis.), Zell Miller (Ga.), Ben Nelson (Neb.) and North Dakota's Kent Conrad and Byron L. Dorgan were the only Democrats to vote in favor of Ashcroft. Freshman Senators Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), and Jean Carnahan (Mo.), whose late husband, former Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan defeated Ashcroft for the Senate seat, all voted against him.