Senate keeps pressure on Gonzales

Mr Gonzales is fighting to hold onto his job

The US Senate has voted to strip the country's top law enforcement officer of the power to appoint US attorneys without Senate approval.

The vote comes as Attorney General Alberto Gonzales struggles to hold onto his position amid a scandal over the firing of eight US attorneys last year.

Critics say the firings were motivated by politics and that Mr Gonzales has not been honest about the reasons.

President Bush has offered to let key aides talk to Congress about the issue.

Among them is his chief political adviser, Karl Rove, and his former counsel, Harriet Miers.

'Reasonable proposal'

But the White House will only let the aides speak to the Congressional committee investigating the firings in private, without transcripts being kept and not under oath.

President Bush said his proposal was "reasonable" as the White House had also made an "unprecedented number of documents available.

"There's no indication whatsoever, after reviews by the White House staff, that anybody did anything improper," he told reporters.

Ninety-four senators voted for the bill that would end the attorney general's powers to appoint federal prosecutors without Senate confirmation. Only two senators voted against.

The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says that shows the anger in Republican as well as Democrat ranks over the way the Bush administration has handled the row.

The bill would have to be approved by the House of Representatives and signed by the president in order to become law.

White House spokesman Tony Snow has insisted that no-one was removed for reasons of partisan recrimination or to influence ongoing investigations.

Investigations have shown Ms Miers proposed firing all 93 US attorneys after President Bush's re-election in 2004.

An aide to Mr Rove replaced one of the attorneys who was dismissed in December.

'Below standard'

US ATTORNEYS 93 nationwide Serve at the discretion of the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate Prosecute criminal cases brought by the government Prosecute or defend civil cases in which the government is a party Collect debts owed to the government Source: US Department of Justice

Sen Charles Schumer, a Democrat who has been critical of the White House and Mr Gonzales over the affair, said the offer might not go far enough.

Congress is considering ordering them to testify under oath about the matter.

Mr Gonzales said last week that the eight who were fired were removed because their performance was below standard.

But internal Justice Department documents suggest that other US attorneys who had similar performance ratings to those who were fired were not removed from their posts.

US attorneys, who represent the government in legal cases across the country, serve at the pleasure of the president and can be dismissed at any time.

Traditionally, however, they are not fired individually during a president's term, but en masse when a new president takes office.