Justice Dept. Clarifies Its Policy on Asking Procecutors to Quit

The Justice Department Wednesday clarified which U.S. attorneys are being asked to submit resignations, saying that the order applies to 77 prosecutors who are political appointees of former President George Bush but not to 16 others who mostly are civil servants filling vacancies on an interim basis.

However, although the interim U.S. attorneys are not being sent letters requesting their resignation, most of them can be expected to be replaced, a Justice Department aide said.

One interim U.S. attorney is Terree A. Bowers of Los Angeles, who was appointed by a federal court last September to succeed Lourdes G. Baird when she became a federal judge.

Bowers, 38, a Republican who has been a prosecutor in the Los Angeles office for 10 years, said that he has offered himself as a candidate for permanent appointment by President Clinton.

California Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer will make recommendations to the White House for U.S. attorney slots in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento.