Mukasey sworn in as attorney general

WASHINGTON (AP) — With a two- to three-minute ceremony Friday, Attorney General Michael Mukasey formally brought an end to the Gonzales era at the Justice Department.

The retired federal judge took the oath as the nation’s 81st attorney general — and the Bush administration’s third. He replaces Alberto Gonzales, who resigned in September after a months-long scandal that exposed White House political meddling at the fiercely independent Justice Department.

Mukasey, 66, now inherits a department struggling to restore its credibility with more than a dozen vacant leadership jobs and little time to make many changes before another president takes office.

At the closed-door ceremony Friday, Mukasey was joined by family members and a handful of Justice Department staff members who applauded when he took the oath, said agency spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.

Afterward, Mukasey headed immediately into meetings with senior Justice Department officials, including a briefing on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Mukasey “got right to work,” Roehrkasse said.

As a federal district judge in Manhattan, Mukasey oversaw many of the nation’s highest-profile terror cases in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He now has 14 months to turn around a Justice Department demoralized after almost a year of scandal that cast doubt on the government’s ability to prosecute cases fairly.

Mukasey’s first full day on the job will be Tuesday. A public swearing-in ceremony is being planned for next week, and Mukasey is expected to address Justice Department employees for the first time afterward.

The Senate confirmed Mukasey minutes before midnight Thursday by a 53-40 vote — which critics noted marked the narrowest margin to confirm an attorney general in more than 50 years.