Leahy expects Bush nominee Mukasey to be confirmed

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said on Tuesday he expects retired judge Michael Mukasey to be confirmed as U.S. attorney general, succeeding Alberto Gonzales who resigned under pressure.

On the eve of the Mukasey's confirmation hearing before Chairman Patrick Leahy's panel, the senator also said he believes Mukasey, unlike Gonzales, would be independent of the White House.

"There are still some within the administration that want the Department of Justice just to be a political arm of the White House," Leahy said.

"I want that to change. I think he can change it," Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, told reporters after a private meeting with the former federal judge.

President George W. Bush nominated Mukasey, who also served as a U.S. prosecutor, last month after the resignation of Gonzales, Bush's longtime friend and former White House counsel.

Gonzales stepped down following criticism from Democrats and some fellow Republicans who questioned his honesty and competency in his firing last year of U.S. prosecutors and handling of Bush's domestic spying program.

Mukasey has drawn bipartisan praise, and Leahy predicted he would win Senate confirmation, barring an unforeseen problem at his hearing.

"I don't see a bombshell," Leahy said. "Right now from what I have seen, I would expect him to be confirmed."

Regardless, Leahy said senators would question Mukasey closely at the hearing, likely to last at least two days.

"Judge Mukasey's answers will signal whether he will be the people's attorney general or merely the president's lawyer," Leahy said.

Nan Aron of the Alliance for Justice, a coalition of 78 public interest groups, said: "No nominee comes with the presumption of confirmation."

"The Senate must be assured that Judge Mukasey can and will: adhere to the rule of law; balance national security concerns with rights and liberties ... put the interests of Americans ahead of the interests of the president," she said.