Report: GOP leaders plot to thwart 'no confidence' motion on Gonzales

Report: GOP leaders plot to thwart 'no confidence' motion on Gonzales

RAW STORY Published: Monday June 4, 2007

According to a Capitol Hill newspaper, "If Senate Democrats press ahead next week with their plan to hold a no-confidence vote on embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, it is unclear whether any of Gonzales’ GOP critics will go along — and the Senate Republican leadership is ginning up plans to thwart the measure."

"Six GOP Senators have gone on the record essentially demanding Gonzales’ resignation, and one of them — Sen. Tom Coburn (Okla.) — already has declared he’ll vote against the nonbinding no-confidence resolution," Rachel Van Dongen reports for Roll Call.

The article continues, "The five others — Sens. John Sununu (N.H.), Chuck Hagel (Neb.), Gordon Smith (Ore.), John McCain (Ariz.) and Norm Coleman (Minn.) — were unwilling to tip their hands about how they will vote, despite repeated attempts to contact them last week."

According to Roll Call, "Republicans are
likely to tie up the Senate floor with all kinds of procedural mischief and introduce any number of amendments, including perhaps one on whether the Iraq War is actually 'lost' as Reid has suggested."

Excerpts from article:

#

The expanding Justice probe, which seems to reveal a new embarrassment for the administration every week, underlines why a no-confidence vote could put Republicans in a bind. Despite GOP skepticism that Gonzales can remain effective on the job, it is uncertain whether that translates into a vote supporting Democrats’ bid to throw him out.

Coburn, for instance, who has been harshly critical of Gonzales, already has chosen sides and plans on opposing the motion. In a May 22 letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Coburn said he would like to be notified before the Senate enters into any unanimous consent request to consider the Gonzales motion. Coburn notified McConnell that if the motion
comes to the floor, he plans to introduce an amendment “expressing no confidence in Congress’s ability to cut wasteful spending or balance the budget.”