Lindsey Graham: “The position of United States Attorney General is the most sensitive in the executive branch. I have made a practice of…”

“The position of United States Attorney General is the most sensitive in the executive branch. I have made a practice of setting a different standard for approval of persons nominated to serve in the president's cabinet and those the president has chosen for federal judgeships. In the former instance, there is a very strong presumption that the president should have the right to choose whomever he feels would effectively carry out his administration's policies. With a federal judge nominee, that presumption is lessened. Federal judges serve not at the pleasure of the president, but rather for a lifetime and represent the third, equal branch of government. I place the appointment of an attorney general in between these two standards because of the office's unique role. The attorney general has far more autonomy than does any other cabinet head. The attorney general decides when and how to take legal action and use government resources supplied by taxpayer dollars. Attorneys general do not just enforce the law. They have broad discretion to interpret the law, then enforce it based on that interpretation. Traditionally, the attorney general does not attend political functions or otherwise engage in partisan politics to preserve the appearance of neutrality.”