Ashcroft Wins Confirmation

In 58-42 Vote, Democrats Signal Readiness to Fight Future Choices

Attorney General John D. Ashcroft and his wife, Janet, enter the Supreme Court building, where he was sworn in Thursday. (Frank Johnston - The Washington Post)

A deeply divided Senate confirmed John D. Ashcroft as attorney general yesterday, installing a champion of conservative causes atop the nation's sprawling law enforcement apparatus.

Ashcroft's 58-42 margin of victory was the narrowest for any attorney general in recent times, including Edwin Meese III, who received 31 "no" votes in 1985. All 42 votes to reject Ashcroft came from Democrats, who said the total proved their ability to battle President Bush over future nominees they consider similarly conservative.

Ashcroft, 58, was sworn into office yesterday afternoon in a private ceremony by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a former colleague of Ashcroft in the Missouri attorney general's office who faced a bruising confirmation battle himself in 1991.

In a statement after the vote, Ashcroft sought to reassure Americans that he would "vigorously enforce the law guaranteeing rights for the advancement of all Americans."

"Let me send a clear message today," he said. "I will confront injustice by leading a professional Justice Department that is free from politics, that is uncompromisingly fair; a department defined by integrity and dedicated to upholding the rule of law."

The bitter dispute over Ashcroft leaves behind frayed relations in the Senate and a rift between Democrats and the Bush administration, with the two sides accusing each other of poisoning chances for bipartisan cooperation in Washington.

By persuading 42 senators to vote against Ashcroft, Democrats said they were sending a warning to Bush that nominees for the Supreme Court and other posts whom they consider extremists will face concerted opposition. Democrats abandoned talk earlier this week of a filibuster, a delaying tactic that would have required 41 votes to sustain.

Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) said yesterday's vote is "not meant to be anything other than just we retain our right to use those options available to us if somebody from the far, far right, the extreme right, would be nominated for an important and sensitive position."

Republicans accused Democrats and their allies in a broad coalition of mostly liberal interest groups of besmirching the reputation of a man who had served Missouri as attorney general, governor and senator. Some said Democrats fanned the flames over the nomination as payback for former vice president Al Gore's loss in the presidential race.

"It's been really hard to sit here and listen to some of the arguments that have been made," said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which approved Ashcroft's nomination by a 10-8 vote Tuesday. "How many of us would like to be treated like this?"

Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who had promised to deliver all 50 GOP votes to Ashcroft before his confirmation hearings began, urged Democrats to work with Republicans on future nominees. "Let's move on," said Lott, who sang in a quartet with Ashcroft known as the "Singing Senators." "Let's work together like I know we can do."

Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer hailed the "bipartisan vote" for Ashcroft and said the president is confident he made the right choice with Ashcroft.

"He thinks that in time people will recognize that we have a nonpolitical attorney general, an attorney general who will enforce the law, an attorney general who we will all be proud of," Fleischer said.

Among those voting against Ashcroft was Sen. Jean Carnahan (D-Mo.), whose late husband, Mel Carnahan, defeated Ashcroft in the November election just weeks after Carnahan was killed in a plane crash. Jean Carnahan was appointed to the seat.

Democrats voting in favor of the nomination were John Breaux (La.), Robert C. Byrd (W.Va.), Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.), Russell Feingold (Wis.), Zell Miller (Ga.), Ben Nelson (Neb.) and North Dakota's Kent Conrad and Byron L. Dorgan.

Virginia's senators, John W. Warner and George Allen, both Republicans, voted for Ashcroft's confirmation. Maryland Sens. Paul S. Sarbanes and Barbara A. Mikulski, both Democrats, opposed him.

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) announced his opposition to Ashcroft yesterday morning, denying conservative charges that Ashcroft was subjected to "religious profiling" because of his strong Pentecostal faith.

As the Democratic vice presidential nominee last year, Lieberman spoke frequently of his faith as an Orthodox Jew.

"On issues ranging from civil rights to privacy rights, Senator Ashcroft has repeatedly taken positions considerably outside the mainstream of American thinking," Lieberman. He added later: "It is Senator Ashcroft's record, not his religion, we should judge today."

The acrimonious debate over Ashcroft's nomination revealed him to be an enigmatic figure who was well liked in the Senate for his easy wit and friendly rapport. The son and grandson of Assemblies of God ministers, a firebrand conservative beloved by the Christian right, was frequently at the fringes politically, even among his fellow Republicans.

He takes the helm of the sprawling Justice Department, with 125,000 employees in agencies that include the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The Justice Department's far-reaching responsibilities include everything from antitrust cases against Microsoft Corp. to the pursuit of international terrorists such as Osama bin Laden. The Justice Department also provides legal advice to Congress and the president.

But the focus of opponents to Ashcroft's nomination was his stands on social issues, particularly his long record of attempts to outlaw abortion, derail gun control measures and thwart Missouri desegregation plans.

A coalition of more than 200 liberal groups questioned whether Ashcroft would adequately enforce laws that he had long opposed.

Ashcroft also drew fire for blocking the appointment of Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ronnie White, an African American, to the federal bench and opposing the appointment of James C. Hormel, who is openly gay, as ambassador to Luxembourg. Many Democrats also said they were troubled by Ashcroft's praise for a neo-Confederate magazine, the Southern Partisan, and his acceptance of an honorary degree from Bob Jones University, which has issued anti-Catholic statements and until recently banned interracial dating.

In testimony before the Judiciary Committee last month, and in written answers to follow-up questions delivered last week, Ashcroft promised to uphold laws that he opposed as a politician and said he considered Roe v. Wade "settled law."

He declined to rule out future visits to Bob Jones University or to condemn Southern Partisan, but said he did not share all of their views.

Despite yesterday's appointment, liberal activists called the battle a victory, in part, they said, because Ashcroft was forced to make promises during his confirmation testimony that they will try to hold him to later.

The nomination did not end the lobbying blitz. The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League announced it will take out full-page ads this Sunday in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania newspapers criticizing Feingold and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who supports abortion rights, for voting in favor of Ashcroft.

Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way, said that when Bush "tries to turn back the clock on our rights and freedoms, we will stand and fight."

Conservative lobbying groups, which campaigned in favor of Ashcroft's appointment, welcomed a change from former attorney general Janet Reno, whom they criticized for the way she handled Clinton administration scandals.

"The Justice Department will now get what it has needed for a long time: a strong and dedicated leader who will equally enforce the law," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative legal group.

Staff writer David A. Vise contributed to this report.