The Daily Background

After this past Thursday’s embarrassing hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales found himself out of step with what almost certainly had to be the majority of Congress. How much support does the AG still have within the legislative branch? None, among Democrats.

But among Republicans? Newsweek Magazine will report in its April 30th issue:

With [Thursday’s] performance, Gonzales lost the Hill. When he spoke with the attorney general on Friday, Sessions urged Gonzales to “take the weekend” to determine whether he can still “be an effective leader,” he said later in a statement. Rep. Adam Putnam, chairman of the House Republican Conference, called on Gonzales to step down—echoing a position that a group of top House GOPers privately delivered to Bush earlier in the month. “He’s done something I didn’t think possible. He’s lost the confidence of almost all the Republicans in Congress,” said one top GOP strategist who is close to the White House, anonymous when talking about sensitive personnel matters.

Ouch. Of course, the White House has said they’re happy with Gonzales’ testimony, but there have been some reports that they’re internally very upset with his testimony. Here’s CNN on Thursday:

White House insiders tell CNN that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales hurt himself during testimony before a Senate committee Thursday on the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

The sources, involved in administration discussions about Gonzales, told White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux that two senior level White House aides who heard the testimony described Gonzales as “going down in flames,” “not doing himself any favors,” and “predictable.”

“Everyone’s putting their best public face on,” one source said, “but everyone is discouraged. Everyone is disappointed.”

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