What Justice Department vacancies mean for Obama
President Obama announces the resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday, September 25, 2014 in Washington, D.C. Mark Wilson, Getty Images
Attorney General Eric Holder and Deputy Attorney General James Cole are both stepping down from their roles at the Justice Department soon, leaving a power vacuum at an agency that has its hand in just about every ongoing national controversy and that plays a central role in the implementation of President Obama's agenda.
The top three jobs at the department will soon be vacant, and only four of the 11 assistant attorneys general have been confirmed. This presents Mr. Obama with both challenges and opportunities.
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This isn't the first time the Justice department has faced a power vacuum. There was a similarly high level of vacancies in the agency in 2007, after the resignation of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and the retirement of former Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty. The department's inspector general also reported at the time that just three of the 11 assistant attorney general positions were filled.
"It's always a challenge because the senior-level positions require Senate confirmation, and it can be difficult to move these nominees through a confirmation vote," Thomas Dupree, who served as deputy assistant attorney general during the George W. Bush administration, told CBS News. At the same time, he said, "It's an opportunity for [the president] to identify new people who will bring new energy and new ideas into the administration."
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Robert Raben, an assistant attorney general in the Clinton administration, said that with multiple high-level positions open, Mr. Obama and his team have the chance to "to look at the whole matrix" of skills and experience needed to lead the Justice Department and find people tailored to meet each need.