Clock ticking for Bush's new justice nod

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- The list of candidates U.S. President George Bush is considering for attorney general is shrinking with a Monday deadline looming, The New York Times reported.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation takes effect Monday and Bush is reportedly favoring former Solicitor General Theodore Olson as his replacement, sources told the newspaper.

Gonzales resigned last month over alleged partisanship in firing U.S. attorneys and his role in the warrantless wiretapping program.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who led the Judiciary Committee effort to remove Gonzales, told the Times he didn't consider Olson to be "broadly acceptable" as far as being non-partisan.

Olson had a role representing the Bush campaign in the Supreme Court case that decided the 2000 presidential election and also was part of partisan attacks in the 1990s on President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, the report said.

Another candidate sources said is in contention is George Terwilliger, a former deputy attorney general under Bush’s father, the Times said.