WASHINGTON — By his own admission, he may have misled the public in describing his role in firing eight U.S. attorneys.
A top aide probably violated civil service laws by injecting politics into the hiring of career prosecutors at the Justice Department.
And his bedside manner leaves something to be desired.
But Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales is nonetheless expected to survive today when the Senate takes up a no-confidence vote on his performance.
Now, the question is where a Democratic-led investigation of Gonzales' two-year tenure at the department goes from here, and whether it is losing steam.
"Purely a symbolic vote," White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said on "Fox News Sunday." "What you've got here is a Senate that's had a great deal of difficulty delivering on any of its promises."
The vote marks a crucial juncture in a congressional probe that has raised questions about whether the mission of the Justice Department has been politicized under Gonzales.
The investigation began with the dramatic testimony of a group of U.S. attorneys fired last year -- and evidence suggesting that the White House and Justice Department conspired to replace them to affect public corruption and voting cases that would benefit Republicans.
Monica M. Goodling, a former Gonzales aide, testified under a grant of immunity that she considered the party affiliation and campaign contributions of applicants for career positions at the department an apparent violation of the Hatch Act, which prevents federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity.
And former Deputy Atty. Gen. James B. Comey alleged that Gonzales, with former White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr., tried to strong-arm then-Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft while he was laid up in a hospital bed into approving a secret and warrantless electronic surveillance program.
Gonzales has acknowledged that he might have initially misspoken in describing his role in some of these events, offering what he described as "imprecise and overbroad" answers about his role in the prosecutor purge.
Some Republicans called for Gonzales to resign, but he has retained the support of President Bush, his political mentor from Texas.
Gonzales has sought to put himself above the fray, appearing to go about his daily business. He is expected to be in Miami today to give a speech at a conference on nuclear terrorism, and later in Mobile, Ala., to address a child protection task force.
