Filling Top U.S. Legal Spots Challenge And Opportunity For Obama

The exodus of top Justice Department officials, and lack of appointed staff, presents both challenges and opportunities for the Obama administration’s last two years in office, Stephanie Condon writes for CBS News The top three Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder, will soon be leaving, and only four of the 11 assistant attorneys general have been confirmed. On the one hand, getting any nominees confirmed by the Senate can be difficult, Condon says. On the other hand, the vacancies give Obama the chance to find, as one former Bush administration DOJ official puts it, “new people who will bring new energy and new ideas into the administration.”