Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Mukasey's confirmation as U.S. attorney general has aggravated a rift between two key Democratic senators, Patrick Leahy and Charles Schumer, raising the question of who's running the Judiciary Committee.

Schumer recommended Mukasey, a fellow New Yorker, to head the Justice Department and pushed his nomination by President George W. Bush through the judiciary panel headed by Leahy. The Senate confirmed the 66-year-old retired judge in a 53-40 vote last night.

``Schumer's power is clearly in the ascendant,'' said Jeff Ballabon, a former Republican Senate aide who heads his own consulting firm in New York.

The fight bolsters the perception that Leahy, who opposed Mukasey, can be outmaneuvered by Schumer, a forceful if less senior senator. Schumer issued an early call for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and ran the investigation that led Gonzales to step down in August.

The two lawmakers also have been at odds over a measure to tighten background checks for gun buyers. The House passed the bill after the Virginia Tech shootings that left 32 people dead in April. While Schumer and other Democrats favored quick passage of the House measure, Leahy made changes to the legislation in committee, and the bill may stall in the Senate.

The Leahy-Schumer rivalry prompted a rare display of public wrangling when Schumer introduced Mukasey to the Judiciary Committee at confirmation hearings last month.

Cutting Off Schumer

``Are you going to take much longer?'' Leahy asked, pounding his gavel. ``No, no, 30 seconds, Mr. Chairman,'' Schumer replied. A half minute later, Leahy cut him off.

The clash suggests the resentment some of Schumer's colleagues feel over his quest for the political spotlight. Former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas once remarked that the most dangerous place in Washington is between Schumer and a television camera.

Leahy, 67, of Vermont, who is in his sixth Senate term, and Schumer, 56, a two-term senator, play down any rivalry.

``You know, I never comment on those things,'' Leahy said in an interview. Pausing, he added: ``He said with a smile.''

Schumer said his relationship with Leahy has ``been fine.''

Leahy's committee includes two junior members of the Democratic leadership, Schumer and Dick Durbin of Illinois, as well as four strong-willed former Judiciary Committee chairmen: Democrats Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Joseph Biden of Delaware, and Republicans Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Orrin Hatch of Utah.

`Herding Cats'

Running the Judiciary Committee is like ``herding cats,'' said Douglas Kmiec, a law professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. ``Except the cats are tiger-sized.''

Schumer's prominence is enhanced by his chairmanship of the Democrats' Senate campaign committee, which helped propel the party to power in last year's elections.

In spearheading the attack on Gonzales, Schumer called for a special prosecutor to investigate whether the former attorney general lied under oath to Congress. Leahy later asked the Justice Department's inspector general to pursue the matter.

With Gonzales out and the Bush administration looking for quick confirmation of a successor, the president took Schumer's recommendation to name Mukasey.

Thing were going smoothly until the second day of committee hearings, when Mukasey refused to say whether waterboarding -- an interrogation technique that simulates drowning -- amounts to illegal torture.

Support From Feinstein

In the end, Schumer joined Dianne Feinstein of California as the only two Democrats on the Judiciary Committee to vote for Mukasey. Schumer said personal assurances from Mukasey on the torture issue swayed his support.

The Nov. 2 announcement of Schumer's decision to vote for Mukasey upstaged Leahy, who 90 minutes earlier told a Vermont news conference he would oppose confirmation.

Some Republicans hardly contained their glee over the spectacle. Specter, Leahy's predecessor as Judiciary Committee chairman, chortled over a ``poignant'' news story cataloguing that ``Schumer took credit for exposing political prosecutions; Schumer took credit for getting rid of Gonzales; Schumer took credit'' for Mukasey.

``It amuses the former chairman, just amuses,'' Specter said in an interview.

``I didn't see how Senator Schumer could not support Judge Mukasey,'' Republican Whip Trent Lott of Mississippi said. ``After all, it was his nominee.''

Some Democrats shrug off the episode, citing it as a reflection of Schumer's love of the limelight.

``We all know Chuck,'' said Durbin.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 9, 2007 00:12 EST