Washington - Former Senator John Ashcroft from Missouri was yesterday named by President-elect George W. Bush as his Attorney General, reports Patrick Smyth. Mr Ashcroft, a deeply conservative nominee, lost his seat last month in a bizarre election campaign to the widow of his Democratic opponent, Governor Mel Carnahan, who died in October in an air crash.
Mr Ashcroft has a strong voting record on conservative issues, opposing checks on gun owners, abortion, and legislation banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. His nomination to the sensitive post will reassure the hard right of the party which has so far been conspicuous by its absence in the new Cabinet and he should have little difficulty, despite his views, in being approved by the Senate he has just left. Mr Bush later last night confirmed the widely expected nominations of New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman to head the Environmental Protection Agency.
Mr Bush nominated Mr Mitch Daniels (51) yesterday to be his White House budget director, saying he would help maintain fiscal discipline in the federal government.
And turning to yet another of the legion of governors he has recruited to the administration, Mr Bush will appoint Virginia's Mr James Gilmore III, a tough tax-cutting conservative, to the post of chairman of the Republican National Committee, a key fundraising and spokesman role.