The big executive branch news has been the Inspector General report that the Justice Dept. of Alberto Gonzales unlawfully played politics in hiring career officials. Monica Goodling, and her immediate supervisor in the Attorney General’s office, Kyle Sampson, passed over more qualified candidates for jobs like counterterrorism prosecutor and gave them to GOP loyalists. The New York Times’ Eric Lichtblau does a good job laying out the IG’s findings and the future of Goodling and Sampson.

Less clear, though, is the future of the Justice Dept. and other federal agencies. One argument is that the scandal is unique to Bush/Rove/Gonzales and we can take comfort in knowing a comprehensive report has detailed what went wrong. However, the scandal must have something of a chilling effect for those in, or considering joining, the bureaucracy. Why serve your country fighting counterterrorism or making sense of immigration laws if you’re going to be jerked around by the likes of a Monica Goodling?-MB

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