First Rumsfeld, Then Rove, and Now: Gonzales?

First Rumsfeld, then Rove, and now Tony Snow. Who’s next? Alberto Gonzales?

In the past year, over 15 key administration officials have resigned. The original staff members of the Bush Administration is a rare species ("Can I pet it mommy? Please!").

Joshua Bolten, the President’s chief of staff, recently told senior aides that if they stayed past Labor Day, he would expect them to stay the rest of the term. This, according to Rove, forced him to leave.

Understandably, this could be the reason Tony Snow is planning to leave. Snow was interviewed by Hugh Hewitt:

HEWITT: Are there any other resignations upcoming, Tony Snow?

SNOW: I think that probably…as [Joshua Bolten] said the other day, he thinks there are probably a couple coming up in the next month or so.

Which makes sense based on Bolten’s Labor Day remark. So, will Gonzales go?


It’s true Gonzales might not be considered a ‘senior aide’; he is higher up in the chain of command than that. But he has become a liability for the Bush Administration bigger than Dick Cheney (and that’s saying something).

But it’s more likely than not Bush will stubbornly keep Gonzales, unless the Democrats launch a full investigation into, well, anything he has done.

Gonzales is the only thing between Congress and some of the Bush Administration’s darkest secrets. He blocks (or attempts to block) any inquiry into the Administration’s dirtiest escapades.

Not only that: any new Attorney General would have to be to be approved by Congress. That means a new AG would most likely be bipartisan.

Will Gonzales go? Right now, it’s a big maybe.