Another Republican Says Gonzales Should Go

U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., has become the second Senate Republican to call for the ouster of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., was the first Republican to join the list of lawmakers calling for Gonzales to lose his job over the way the Justice Department handled the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys.

If I were the president, I would fire the attorney general, Sununu told USA Today.

Late Thursday, Smith concurred.

For the Justice Department to be effective before the U.S. Senate, it would be helpful if Gonzales resigned, Smith told USA Today.

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., told the newspaper he was deeply concerned about how this whole process has been handled. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. — the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee — said he was withholding judgment on Gonzales’ future, but said the attorney general’s explanations so far had been unacceptable and mystifying.

Several Democrats have called for the ouster of Gonzales after learning that the White House played a role in the firing last year of several U.S. attorneys. The Justice Department told Congress the dismissals were based on the prosecutors’ performance.

President George W. Bush, at a news conference Wednesday in Mexico, expressed confidence in his attorney general but said Gonzales owes a better explanation to Congress.

The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday voted to authorize subpoenas for five Justice Department officials to testify in the committee’s investigation of the matter.