In a July 27 editorial, The Pueblo Chieftain criticized the U.S. House Judiciary Committee's July 25 vote to issue contempt citations for a current and a former top White House aide who had, in the Chieftain's words, “refus[ed] to give up information in the Democrats' witch-hunt into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys.” In challenging the legitimacy of the committee's investigation, the Chieftain noted that “President Clinton fired all 93 U.S. attorneys on his first day in August, and hardly anyone paid attention.” While Presidents Clinton and Bush both dismissed nearly all U.S. attorneys upon taking office following an administration of the other party, according to The Washington Post, “legal experts and former prosecutors say the firing of a large number of prosecutors in the middle of a term appears to be unprecedented and threatens the independence of prosecutors.”

The Judiciary Committee voted for the contempt citations against White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers after issuing a July 24 memorandum on Bolten's and Miers' noncompliance with subpoenas for testimony and documents related to the committee's investigation of possible wrongdoing in the firings of U.S. attorneys in 2006.

From the editorial “Contemptible” in the July 27 edition of The Pueblo Chieftain:

On a straight 22-17 party-line vote, the House Judiciary Committee voted to hold White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and ex-Bush Counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for refusing to give up information in the Democrats' witch-hunt into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys.

Mr. Bolten and Ms. Miers invoked executive privilege to block subpoenas for their testimony in the inquiry into allegations the prosecutors were axed because they didn't back the administration's political agenda. The president ordered the two not to comply with the subpoenas because the issue of executive privilege is an important one to the separation of powers.

[...]

The hiring or firing of U.S. attorneys for any or no reason is squarely within a president's constitutional prerogative. We'd be remiss not to mention that President Clinton fired all 93 U.S. attorneys on his first day in August, and hardly anyone paid attention.

Executive privilege dates to George Washington. In 1796, the House of Representatives demanded all his papers related to the controversial Jay Treaty with Great Britain. Washington refused, saying that the Constitution barred the House from the making of treaties. Firing U.S. attorneys and any other executive officers, including those requiring Senate confirmation, rests beyond the constitutional powers of Congress.

Contrary to the Chieftain's suggestion that Bush's firing of U.S. attorneys was no more extraordinary than Clinton's action upon taking office, a March 14 McClatchy Newspapers article (accessed through the Nexis database) noted, “Mass firings of U.S. attorneys are fairly common when a new president takes office, but not in a second-term administration.” The article, headlined “Current situation is distinct from Clinton firings of U.S. attorneys,” further reported that “Justice Department officials acknowledged it would be unusual for the president to oust his own appointees,” as Bush did. Furthermore, a March 14 Associated Press article about the firings noted that "[s]uch purges of the political appointees often come at the beginning of a new president's administration, not midway through."

Similarly, in a Post online chat on March 14 -- noted on Talking Points Memo and Media Matters for America -- Stuart M. Gerson, assistant attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, observed that "[i]t is customary for a President to replace U.S. attorneys at the beginning of a term." Gerson added that “Ronald Reagan replaced every sitting U.S. attorney when he appointed his first Attorney General.”

As Colorado Media Matters has further noted, a report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) substantiated that historically very few U.S. attorneys have been dismissed absent a change of presidential administration before the expiration of their terms:

At least 54 U.S. attorneys appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate left office before completion of a four-year term between 1981 and 2006 (not counting those whose tenure was interrupted by a change in presidential administration). Of those 54, 17 left to become Article III federal judges, one left to become a federal magistrate judge, six left to serve in other positions in the executive branch, four sought elective office, two left to serve in state government, one died, and 15 left to enter or return to private practice.

Of the remaining eight U.S. attorneys who left before completing a four-year term without a change in presidential administration, two were apparently dismissed by the President, and three apparently resigned after news reports indicated they had engaged in questionable personal actions. No information was available on the three remaining U.S. attorneys who resigned.

The House Judiciary Committee cited an update of this CRS report as background in the section of the July 24 memo titled “The Committee's Investigation Has Uncovered Significant Evidence of Wrongdoing.”