Former Federal Judge Michael B. Mukasey will be nominated by President Bush to replace Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General, according to sources. President Bush will make the announcement on Monday.

Mukasey, who has handled terrorist cases in the U.S. legal system for more than a decade, would become the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

The 66-year-old New York native, who is a legal adviser to GOP presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, would take charge of a Justice Department where morale is low following months of investigations into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys and Gonzales’ sworn testimony on the Bush administration’s terrorist surveillance program.

I’d have preferred Ted Olson, but Mukasey sounds like he’ll do fine. However, I’m not sure if he’ll have a problem getting approved. He apparently liked by both sides of the aisle, with Liberals having wanted him on the Supreme Court.

Mukasey has received past endorsements from Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is from Mukasey’s home state. And in 2005, the liberal Alliance for Justice put Mukasey on a list of four judges who, if chosen for the Supreme Court, would show the president’s commitment to nominating people who could be supported by both Democrats and Republicans.

With any luck, that would mean a smooth confirmation hearing. Though I wouldn’t put it past Dingy Harry to cause problems just because Mukasey’s being appointed by President Bush.