US: President Bush yesterday nominated White House counsel Mr Alberto Gonzales, a Texas confidante and one of the most prominent Hispanics in the administration, as attorney general. This follows the resignation of Mr John Ashcroft as head of the justice department.
Mr Ashcroft (62) announced his resignation on Tuesday evening, along with Commerce Secretary Mr Don Evans, a friend of the President who said he wanted to return to his family home in Texas.
The moves mark the start of a widely-anticipated shake-up in the administration as Mr Bush prepares for his second four-year term.
Speculation is growing that other prominent figures, such as Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell, will figure in further changes.
Mr Bush and Mr Powell met privately in the White House yesterday, after which Mr Bush would only say in response to a reporter's question: "He's done a heck of a good job."
Mr Gonzales (49) is the son of Mexican migrant workers and a former member of the Texas Supreme Court. He becomes the first Hispanic to be nominated attorney general.
Announcing his nomination, which must be approved by the Senate, Mr Bush said the 80th US attorney general would continue the progress in fighting crime, strengthening the FBI and improving US efforts in its war on terror.
Mr Gonzales's record on civil liberties will, however, bring challenges from the Democratic minority in the Senate. As White House counsel he was closely identified with the policy, since repudiated by the Supreme Court, of denying terrorism suspects access to lawyers or court proceedings while undergoing indefinite detention.
He was the author of a controversial White House memo, dated February 7th, 2002, in which Mr Bush determined "that none of the provisions of Geneva apply to our conflict with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan or elsewhere throughout the world".
Human rights groups claim that the removal of the inherent protections of the Geneva Conventions led to the type of abuses uncovered in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and at Guantanamo.
Mr Gonzales had been tipped for nomination to a vacancy on the Supreme Court, but is regarded by many Republicans as not conservative enough on core issues like abortion.
While a justice in Texas, he accused a colleague, Judge Priscilla Owen, of "judicial activism" for creating hurdles against abortion not included in the law. This case has been cited against him as evidence that he is not fully in tune with the agenda of the conservative, pro-life groups that backed Mr Bush's re-election.
Mr Ashcroft's resignation, sent in a hand-written letter to the President on polling day last week and accepted by the President on Tuesday evening, was widely anticipated as he had serious health problems this year.
Mr Ashcroft has been a lightning rod for critics of the administration who claimed that he infringed civil liberties through his relentless use of the Patriot Act, passed after September 11th, which widened FBI surveillance powers, allowed secret immigration hearings and increased the use of material witness warrants to hold arrested persons incommunicado. On his watch hundreds of Arab and south Asian foreign nationals were deported on immigration violations.
A strong religious conservative, Mr Ashcroft belongs to the Assemblies Of God which disapproves of drinking, smoking and dancing.
On taking office after a partisan vote in the Senate, he ordered that the breasts of a statue of Justice in his department be covered with drapes, and began holding optional prayer meetings with staff every morning.
In a letter to employees, Mr Ashcroft stated that Americans had been spared the "violence and savagery" of another terrorist attack, and violent crime had plunged to a 30-year low. However, it would be arrogant to assume they achieved this alone, as "the Psalms remind us: 'Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stands guard in vain'. "
Defeated presidential candidate Mr John Kerry said in Washington that Mr Ashcroft was one of the most divisive faces in the administration, and Mr Bush had a chance to heal the divisions and renew bipartisanship.
The American Civil Liberties Union said Mr Ashcroft left a legacy of "open hostility to protecting civil liberties, and an outright disdain for those who dare question his policies".
He will remain in office pending Mr Gonzales's confirmation by the Senate, which will come early next year except in the unlikely event of a Democratic filibuster.
Mr Evans (58) said that it was time for him to return home to Texas.
The Commerce Secretary was criticised during the election for suggesting that job losses during Mr Bush's first term were a myth.
