The U.S. Senate voted to strip the power to name federal prosecutors off the administration, following an uproar on the Capitol Hill caused by the dismissal of eight prosecutors by the Justice Department last year.
The Senate approved a bill by a vote of 94-2, which cancelled a provision in the Patriot Act that had allowed the attorney general to name U.S. attorneys without Senate confirmation. The bill needs to be passed in the House before it can be sent for the president to sign it into law.
Under the bill, a 120-day deadline would be set for the administration to name an interim prosecutor if there is a vacancy, and if the interim appointment is not confirmed by the Senate during that period, a federal district judge could appoint a permanent replacement.
The bill essentially resumed practices in prosecutor appointments before the Patriot Act was adopted in Congress shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Lawmakers, which have conducted nvestigations into the firings, have called Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign over the firings of the eight federal prosecutors, but so far Gonzales has refused to step down.
On Tuesday morning, Gonzales got a call from President George W.Bush and the two talked about the uproar over the dismissals.
Bush believed the firings were justified and the call was "a very strong vote of confidence," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.
Media reports said the White House was looking for possible replacement for Gonzales if he could not survive the current political turmoil.