Meanwhile, the Congressional Research Service has just published a study examining the tenure of every U.S. attorney confirmed between 1981 and 2006. The study found the recent firings is unprecedented. During the 25-year period studied, the Senate confirmed 468 U.S. attorneys. Only 10 left office involuntarily for reasons other than a change in administration prior to the firings that took place in December. This means the Bush administration pushed out almost as many U.S. attorneys in December as had been let go over the past 25 years.