The Justice Department trails all Cabinet agencies in percentage of occupied Senate-confirmed positions, according to data compiled by an independent group that tracks government personnel.

Two caveats, before we continue: The data, from the The White House Transition Project, disregard U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals in the field, and it counts term-limited positions, such as FBI Director, as vacancies, even if they haven’t expired.

So, of the 37 Washington-based positions subject to Senate approval, five are held by officials who were confirmed during the Bush administration and are still serving terms. They include members of the U.S. Parole Commission and the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, and the aforementioned Director of the FBI, Robert Mueller III.

That leaves us with 32 other DOJ posts, 10 of which have been filled. That’s a 31 percent confirmation rate — still the lowest, behind the Treasury Department (36 percent) and the Department of Health and Human Services (40 percent), according to the WHTP. The data are current as of Sept. 16 — day 240 of the Obama administration.

President Barack Obama has sent 15 DOJ nominations to the Senate (again, excluding U.S. Attorneys or U.S. Marshals). Let’s do some quick accounting.

Senate-confirmed:

• Attorney General Eric Holder (confirmed on Feb. 2)
• Deputy Attorney General David Ogden (confirmed on March 12)
• Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli (confirmed on March 12)
• Solicitor General Elena Kagan (confirmed on March 19)
• David Kris, Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division (confirmed on March 25)
• Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division (confirmed April 20)
• Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division (confirmed April 20)
• Tony West, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, (confirmed April 20)
• Ron Weich, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs (confirmed April 29)
• Cranston Mitchell, Commissioner, U.S. Parole Commission (confirmed Aug. 7)

Reported out of committee but awaiting a Senate vote:

• Dawn Johnsen for Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel (nominated Feb. 11)
• Thomas Perez for Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division (nominated March 31)
• Mary Smith for Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division (nominated April 20)
• Christopher Schroeder for Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy (nominated June 4)

Awaiting a committee vote:

• Ignacia Moreno for Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division (nominated June 8th)
• Laurie Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs (nominated Sept. 14)

Terry Sullivan, executive Director of the WHTP, said President George W. Bush had filled about 46 percent of the DOJ’s Senate-confirmed positions by this time in his first year, though the number is likely a bit high. (See caveat No. 2 above.)

At that time in the Bush administration, the department had the third-lowest confirmation rate. The Treasury Department and the Department of Transportation were faring worse.

Sullivan, who teaches political science at UNC Chapel Hill, said the difference between the two Justice Departments — in terms of staffing — is negligible.

“That’s pretty much the statisical range,” he said.

Republican Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts said today they are blocking  ”key” nominees to the Justice and Defense departments, in light of press reports that the Obama administration is mulling a plan to house and try Guantanamo Bay detainees at the military penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.)

The senators did not specify which nominations they placed legislative holds on, and their offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment.  A spokeswoman for Roberts told CQ the list does not include U.S. attorney nominations or military promotions.

The administration is said to be considering  a court-room-within-a-prison complex. The plans would combine civilian and military detention facilities under one roof. The operation would be jointly run by the departments of the Defense, Homeland Security and Justice. Another possible site is the soon-to-be-shuttered state maximum security prison in Michigan.

Brownback, Roberts, and a raft of Republicans and Democrats have balked at the idea of transferring detainees to U.S. soil. Congress has vowed to withhold funding for the closure of Guantanamo Bay until the Obama administration provides more details of the undertaking.

Brownback and Roberts said they would hold up the nominees until the White House complied with a list of 11 requests, including a briefing by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Attorney General Eric Holder, or other senior officials studying the detention issue. They also demanded analyses of the costs and economic impact of implementing the plan, a ”classified list and background” of every detainee considered for transfer to Fort Leavenworth, and a detailed explanation of where the administration would move the 430 military prisoners currently held at the penitentiary.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.)

A Senate leadership aide told Main Justice yesterday that Senate leaders are still trying to reach a deal that would bring DOJ nominees up for votes before the recess.  There are four nominees to key Justice Department posts awaiting a vote:

• Dawn Johnsen, Office of Legal Counsel (Reported out of committee: March 19)
• Thomas Perez, Civil Rights Division (Reported out of committee: June 4)
• Mary Smith, Tax Division (Reported out of committee: June 11)
• Christopher Schroeder, Office of Legal Policy (Reported out of committee: July 28)

Apparently, they’ll be waiting a bit longer.

Democratic Massachusetts Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry recommended that President Obama nominate Carmen M. Ortiz to be the next Massachusetts U.S. Attorney, the senators said in a statement released yesterday.

Carmen Ortiz (Adelphi Univ.)

Ortiz, who has spent a dozen years in the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office, would be the first Hispanic and woman U.S. Attorney for the state. She would succeed Michael J. Sullivan, who stepped down last month.

“It’s a tremendous challenge, but I think one that I’m prepared to take and I’m prepared to meet,” Ortiz told The Boston Globe. “I feel very grateful, and I’m humbled by the senators’ confidence in me.”

A committee went through more than a dozen candidates for the post, but the senators said Ortiz was a “standout throughout this process.”

” We believe that her prosecutorial experience, commitment to public service, and insight into criminal justice issues will make her an exceptional United States Attorney,” the senators said in the statement. “She has lived the American dream, worked hard for every accomplishment she’s achieved, and will ensure that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts is a leader in our community and around the country.”

Ortiz is not free from controversy, however. The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit had a man resentenced for defrauding 38,000 people in a telemarketing scheme because Ortiz did not follow through on her promise to propose a lighter sentence, The Globe reported.

The senators’ recommendation also comes as a bit of a surprise, with better known lawyers Michael B. Keating and Martin F. Murphy, both from the Foley Hoag law firm, among the finalists for the position, The Globe said.