With the unanimous Senate confirmation this week of Janet Reno to serve as the first female attorney general, President Clinton has finally completed his Cabinet. At the same time, he has managed to turn his earlier bumbling, stumbling selection process into something of a triumph.
Most of the credit has to go to Reno, whose reputation as a successful Florida prosecutor helped her sail through the usually tough nomination procedure that had tripped up the earlier nominees. Reno left the senators without much to complain about.Yet gaining Senate approval for the job was the easy part. The problems awaiting Reno in the Justice Department will require all the political, legal and management skills she can muster.
On the front burner are the immediate problems of possible terrorism and the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City; the violent standoff between federal agents and a religious cult leader and his followers in Waco, Texas; and a review of department allegations of unethical conduct by FBI Director William S. Sessions.
Then there are issues of gun control, rising crime rates, the expanding drug problem, illegal immigration and Haitian refugees, the BCCI scandal and possible revival of the special prosecutor law. All of these will involve Reno to some degree but are linked to controversial political decisions. That's what makes the Justice job so difficult.
Aside from specific problems, there is the operation of the Justice Department itself. In the past decade, the department has doubled in size to 98,000 employees and has quadrupled its budget to $11 billion.
At a time when budgets must be cut to reduce the deficit, the Justice Department makes a fat and tempting target. There is nothing in the past decade that justifies doubling the number of people working for the department. Fighting crime won't suffer if the vast agency is less swollen by bureaucracy and bloated budgets.
Some observers predict that Reno will use the department as an instrument for social change rather than simply enforcing the law.
Enforcing the law is a big enough problem without the Justice Department's also trying to function as a social agency. Reno has a reputation as a tough prosecutor with a significant background in criminal law. That should remain her top priority.