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Vote on AG Derails in Senate

Legislative maneuver comes up 7 votes short

By M. Morris,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 11, 2007 8:11 PM CDT

(Newser) – A no-confidence vote on Alberto Gonzales failed to get out of the Senate today when a procedural vote to cut off debate failed by seven votes. Both sides proclaimed partial victory: Republicans had blasted the vote as a stunt, but Democrats lured seven GOP senators across party lines to support going forward with the vote on the nonbinding motion.

The vote to end debate, or invoke cloture, was 53-38, with Arlen Specter leading Norm Coleman, Susan Collins, Chuck Hagel, Gordon Smith, Olympia Snowe, and John Sununu across the aisle. Specter renewed his criticism of the AG, saying the Justice Department is "in shambles"; Trent Lott blasted the no-confidence vote, saying the Senate "is not the British Parliament."

Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Barbara Feinstein, D-Calif., talk with reporters after the cloture vote for no-confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales  in Washington, Monday, June 11, 2007.  The no-confidence vote failed 53-38.(AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Barbara Feinstein, D-Calif., talk with reporters after the cloture vote for no-confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in Washington,...   (Associated Press)
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales speaks during a news conference Monday, June 11, 2007, in Mobile, Ala., after meeting with members of the Mobile Project Safe Childhood Task Force at the Child Advocacy Center, a counseling center for sexually abused children. (AP Photo/Press-Register, John David Mercer)
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales speaks during a news conference Monday, June 11, 2007, in Mobile, Ala., after meeting with members of the Mobile Project Safe Childhood Task Force at the Child Advocacy...   (Associated Press)
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales smiles as he responds to a question on the Senate's no-confidence vote issue during a news conference Monday, June 11, 2007, in Mobile, Ala., after he met with members of the Mobile Project Safe Childhood Task Force at the Child Advocacy Center, a counseling...
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales smiles as he responds to a question on the Senate's no-confidence vote issue during a news conference Monday, June 11, 2007, in Mobile, Ala., after he met with members...   (Associated Press)
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