WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- The political background of a possible candidate for new U.S. attorney general, Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, could raise issues in the U.S. Senate.
The Los Angeles Times said while Chertoff is very qualified to be the country's top lawyer with his Harvard law degree, his loyalty to Republican issues wouldn't bode well at Democrat-controlled Senate confirmation hearings.
Chertoff was named secretary of Homeland Security by U.S. President George Bush in February 2005 but his various jobs at the Justice Department could be viewed by Democrats as being politically tinged, the Times said.
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation a week ago and will step down Sept. 17. In Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, Gonzales denied politics were involved in the firings of several U.S. attorneys last year.
However, there are Senate skeptics who will be grilling Bush's choice as a replacement including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.,
She told the Times if Bush's nomination "is political in nature and susceptible to the importuning of the White House, you can be sure that individual would not be confirmed."
