Dems Push Monday Vote on Gonzales

LAURIE KELLMAN
AP
June 11, 2007 03:05 PM EST

WASHINGTON — The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee said Monday he will vote for a no-confidence resolution against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he's concerned like others in his party that the resolution, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and up for a test vote later in the day, was a Democratic effort to embarrass Bush and push Gonzales to resign.

But Specter has long said that Gonzales has exercised poor leadership on a host of issues, from the firings of eight federal prosecutors to the Justice Department's handling of wiretapping authority under the USA Patriot Act.

"If you ask Arlen Specter, do I have confidence in Attorney General Gonzales, the answer is a resounding no," Specter said during a news conference in Philadelphia. "I'm going to vote that I have no confidence in Attorney General Gonzales."