Constitutional Law

Troubles Persist Over Politicization of DOJ Hiring

Earlier today, Lisa Brown, ACS's Executive Director, spoke out on reversing the politicization of the Justice Department's hiring process on Talking Points Memo Cafe. This followed Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey's recent assurance to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he would work to keep politics out of career hiring decisions at the Department of Justice.

Mukasey was put on the defensive this week by several members of the committee who expressed concern about an array of controversies at the DOJ, including accusations of the politicization of hiring career attorneys. Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) said he found the career hiring controversy “unacceptable” and that he hoped Mukasey would keep his promises to ensure politics were kept out of hiring career attorneys. TPM Muckraker provides extensive coverage of Mukasey’s appearance before the committee here.

Also this week, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a Washington, D.C.-based public interest group, filed ethics complaints against two former Department of Justice lawyers over their alleged involvement in illegal hiring practices. The group’s executive director said the two engaged in “illegal conduct while serving in the top echelon of the very agency charged with enforcing our nation’s laws.”

Last week, a former Honors Program applicant sued the DOJ, accusing it of rejecting his application because of his political ties. The report by the DOJ’s Office of Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility revealed that a DOJ hiring committee rejected hundreds of applicants with liberal affiliations, including applicants with ties to the American Constitution Society.

Bruce J. Einhorn, a retired federal judge and a member of ACS, wrote in a commentary for the Union Leader that the “bad faith shown by the illegally contaminated hiring policies of the Bush-Ashcroft-Gonzales administration at the Justice Department has corrupted the credibility of the department as the nation’s law firm.”

Full post as published by ACS Blog on July 10, 2008 (boomark / email).