The Bush team is playing out the clock.  They're forcing the battle with Congress over the U.S. Attorneys scandal into the courts -- and that means this issue will continue after January 20, 2009 when Bush leaves office.  Melanie Sloan explained as much to the NY Daily News -- and "senior Bush adviser" agreed with her (that hasn't happened very often):

Now the fight over whether Gonzales sacked nine federal prosecutors for not carrying out White House political objectives will probably be settled in court.

That likely means the clock will run out and Team Bush will win by default, experts said.

"This most likely will not be resolved during this administration," admitted Melanie Sloan, director of the liberal legal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which asked for a special prosecutor to investigate.

A senior Bush adviser agreed, saying of Gonzales: "He's limping, but he's still there and it's over."