Did We Have a coupe d'etat at the Justice Department?

One columnist described Attorney General's sacking of lawyers as a 'coup d'etat':

A columnist at Salon has described Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' sacking of United States Attorneys involved in controversial prosecutions as an act that amounts to a "coup d'etat."

Joe Conason highlights the removal from office of Carol Lam, Bud Cummings, and John McKay, U.S. Attorneys in San Diego, Little Rock, and Seattle respectively, whose prosecutions ran against the partisan interests of the Bush White House. These acts, Conason writes, suggest that "the White House and the Justice Department have been exposed in a secretive attempt to expand executive power for partisan purposes."

This has led to one Congressperson to calls for hearings to look into this abuse of power:

A key House Democrat is announcing her plan for hearings on the recent dismissal of U.S. Attorneys, according to a press release.

At the heart of the problem:

Under consideration for the subcommitee is a bill "that would reverse a new provision in the USA PATRIOT Act allowing the Attorney General to indefinitely appoint federal prosecutors through the end of the Bush Administration without Senate confirmation," the release continues. The bill "would restore the previous process of selecting permanent and interim candidates to U.S. Attorney offices."