President George W. Bush tonight nominated White House legal counsel Mr Alberto Gonzales as the next US attorney general, replacing Mr John Ashcroft.
Mr Gonzales (49) is the first Hispanic-American to become the country's top law-enforcement official. He replaces Attorney General Mr John Ashcroft, whose resignation was announced on Tuesday night.
Mr Gonzales is a longtime adviser to Mr Bush and a former Texas Supreme Court justice who has been considered a possible Bush nominee to the Supreme Court.
Former Deputy Attorney General Mr Larry Thompson had been considered a candidate for attorney general, but after Mr Bush's re-election last week he made it clear he wanted to remain general counsel at PepsiCo.
Mr Gonzales' Senate confirmation hearing will likely delve into what role he played in a legal opinion that defined the treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq, which critics said contributed to the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, a charge denied by the administration.
In classified memos that were released in June, administration lawyers argued that Mr Bush, as commander in chief, was not restricted by prohibitions on torture enshrined in US law and international treaties due to the president's "complete authority over the conduct of war," including interrogations.
In other developments in Mr Bush's second-term Cabinet plans, Treasury Secretary Mr John Snow is expected to stay in the job, possibly for another six to 12 months, to spearhead early efforts to overhaul the tax code, an issue he has pushed within the administration.