Little-known Provision in Patriot Act Rears its Ugly Head

A provision in the Patriot Act reauthorization bill allows the Attorney General to fill U.S. attorney vacancies with interim appointments that can remain indefinitely, circumventing the usual Senate approval of these appointments.

U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president, so the administration can ask for their resignation at any time - and the administration has done just that to several U.S. attorneys in recent months. What is noteworthy is which ones have resigned. It seems that some of the U.S. attorneys who have left their posts may been involved in investigations the administration would not be happy about. In at least one case, the vacancy was filled by a partisan operative - Karl Rove's former deputy.

Senator Feinstein (D-CA), along with Senators Leahy (D-VT) and Pryor (D-AR), has introduced legislation (S. 214) that would fix this affront to checks and balances and remove the attorney general's authority to fill U.S. attorney vacancies until another official appointment can be made, giving the authority back to the local district court (where it was before the Patriot Act changed it).