After Tough Week, Gonzales Says He Remains Focused

"It almost seems like no one's in charge at the Justice Department," Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said yesterday. "There's just problem after problem after problem, and he doesn't seem to understand the seriousness of what's happened. . . . He doesn't quite understand that it's a new ballgame."

The sharpest and most telling criticism, however, has come from Gonzales's own party.

Specter said before meeting with Gonzales on Thursday that "one day there will be a new attorney general, maybe sooner rather than later." He added later that he did not mean to imply that Gonzales should resign.

Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) said "there ought to be some heads that roll" over the FBI scandal, and he complained about "the ham-handed dismissal" of U.S. attorneys.

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), whose U.S. attorney was one of those pushed out, told reporters: "I cannot tell you how upset I am at the Justice Department."

Despite the rising tempers, administration officials and GOP allies say there is no serious talk about resignations for Gonzales or Mueller. Bush said during a stop in Uruguay yesterday that the FBI problems "will be addressed as quickly as possible," and he praised Mueller for apologizing for the errors.

"He took responsibility, as he should," said Bush, who is in the midst of a six-day tour of Latin America. "I've got confidence in Director Mueller, as I do in the attorney general."

But several Washington lawyers and GOP strategists with close ties to the White House said last week that lawmakers and conservative lawyers are nervous that Gonzales may not be up to the job.

"This attorney general doesn't have anybody's confidence," said one GOP adviser to the White House, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so he could be candid. "It's the worst of Bush -- it's intense loyalty for all the wrong reasons. There will be other things that come up, and we don't have a guy in whom we can trust."

Gonzales has always had an uncertain relationship with conservatives, many of whom opposed talk of appointing him to the Supreme Court and suspect that the former Texas state judge is more liberal on abortion and other social issues than they would like. Gonzales's predecessor, John D. Ashcroft, by comparison, was a conservative celebrity who once pondered a run for the White House as an evangelical Christian candidate.

Gonzales said in yesterday's interview that he is unfazed by the recent criticism and is focused on returning attention to his key initiatives, including programs aimed at prosecuting child pornography cases and addressing the rise of violent gangs in some cities.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said initiatives under Gonzales have resulted in a tenfold increase in child-predator cases, a doubling of human-trafficking cases and a doubling of gang-related convictions by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Department officials are preparing a report in response to FBI statistics showing a resurgence in violent crime nationwide after years of decline or stability.

Gonzales said he is confident that he and Democrats in Congress "can find a way to reach common ground" on the U.S. attorneys issue. He said he will also "focus on where we've fallen short" at the FBI.

"We always struggle to do better, and we learn in life that, in most cases, we can do better," he said.

Staff writers Peter Baker in Anchorena Park, Uruguay, and Michael Abramowitz in Washington contributed to this report.