Washington ? The Bush administration agreed Thursday not to oppose legislation that would eliminate the attorney general’s power to appoint interim U.S. attorneys without Senate confirmation.

The reversal by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales comes after weeks of controversy about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys and after Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., criticized Gonzales and the administration for their handling of the ousters of the Republican appointees.

The administration’s retreat isn’t likely to end the controversy, however. Two top Democrats on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the Justice Department demanding documents on the prosecutors’ ousters and interviews with department officials.

The firings have become an embarrassment for the Justice Department and for two lawmakers and a congressional aide who’re accused of trying to interfere with federal investigations of Democrats.

On Tuesday, six of the ousted U.S. attorneys testified before a House subcommittee and the Senate Judiciary Committee that they were never given any specific reasons for why they were fired. Two of them described interactions with members of Congress about criminal cases, which Democrats have said could demonstrate that the prosecutors’ removals were motivated by partisan politics.

Democrats had seized on the testimony to question whether the White House may have been more actively involved in the effort to oust certain prosecutors and replace them with administration loyalists.

Senators announced the administration’s decision to not oppose the legislation following the conclusion of a closed-door meeting at the Capitol with Gonzales.

Aides said the attorney general met for about an hour with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Specter, who was committee chairman when the changes were made to the Patriot Act last year.