Mukasey was headed from New York to Washington to take the oath of office in a private Justice Department afternoon ceremony, followed by meetings and briefings with senior advisers.

The retired federal judge has 14 months to turn around the demoralized department and its 110,000 employees after almost a year of scandal that forced the resignation of his predecessor and cast doubt on the government’s ability to prosecute cases fairly.

“He will get to work immediately,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Andrew Kent, a constitutional law professor at Fordham Law School in the Bronx, said it’s an open question as to how much Mukasey can get done.

“He seems like an honorable and smart and upright guy,” Kent said. “But it just seems inconceivable that there’d be any major changes in legal policy in the president’s approach to the war on terror at the behest of an outsider to the administration _ which is what Mukasey is.”

The Senate confirmed Mukasey minutes before midnight Thursday by a 53-40 vote _ which critics noted marked the narrowest margin to confirm an attorney general in over 50 years. His confirmation briefly stalled over his refusal to say whether he considers an interrogation tactic known as waterboarding a form of torture that should be outlawed.

But Mukasey made clear to senators whom he eventually won over that he won’t tolerate politics influencing decisions about prosecuting cases or hiring career attorneys _ evidence of which surfaced in the ongoing investigation of last year’s Justice Department firing of nine U.S. attorneys.

The scandal, which led to the September ouster of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, tarnished the Justice Department’s long-held independent image and prompted a flood of resignations from its senior officials.

Twelve of the highest-ranking department jobs _ including the No. 2 and 3 spots and six assistant attorney generals _ currently are held by officials who have not been confirmed by the Senate. Two other senior officials have announced their resignations and are expected to leave shortly.

Having temporary officials filling in at the top jobs creates some uncertainty in the department and could slow productivity, said William Barr, who was attorney general during the administration of former President George H.W. Bush.

“It could affect their ability to be decisive on issues because everything they do could potentially become an issue in their confirmation,” said Barr, now general counsel at Verizon Communications Inc. “It’s obviously best to have people understand who’s going to be occupying those positions for the duration of the administration.”

At the top of Mukasey’s priorities likely will be attempts to soothe his remaining employees, both at Justice Department headquarters in Washington and in the 93 U.S. attorneys offices nationwide, with promises of administering the law fairly and without political bias.

Doing so would not only boost their morale but help restore public confidence, said Eric Holder, who served as deputy attorney general during the Clinton administration.

“Internally, there is a morale problem the likes of which I have never seen before,” Holder said. “Externally, there is a crisis of confidence that the nation has with regard to the department.”

Holder said Mukasey “has to move swiftly and tangibly in order to restore faith in the integrity of the decision making at Justice. He has to show that he, not political operatives at the White House, is making the calls at Justice.”

Department officials maintain they have already taken steps to fix internal policies approved by Gonzales that let politics seep into daily operations. They include:

_Allowing U.S. attorneys to decide whom to hire as trial prosecutors, even in cases where the U.S. attorney is only serving in an interim basis. Traditionally, Justice Department headquarters signed off, allowing temporary U.S. attorneys to hire career prosecutors. That changed after Monica Goodling, the department’s former White House liaison, gave hiring preference to Republican Party activists _ a violation of federal law. Now, Justice headquarters only weighs in when hiring might affect the agency budget.

_Reversing an order that gave Goodling and former Justice chief of staff Kyle Sampson authority to hire or fire about 135 politically appointed Justice Department employees who did not require Senate confirmation. That authority has been reassigned to the deputy attorney general’s office, where it previously had been.

_Revising the process to appoint immigration judges to make sure career Justice employees have significant input.

_Making sure career employees are involved in hiring entry-level attorneys for the department’s Honors and Summer Law Interns programs. Critics say Goodling rejected applicants from Ivy League schools and other top law schools for young conservative attorneys.

Zach Carter, a former U.S. attorney in Brooklyn and longtime Mukasey friend, said it likely won’t take long for the Justice Department to bounce back once its lawyers believe they have a steady and smart leader committed to restoring its independence.

“I’m not saying Mike’s a messiah, but people are waiting for that,” Carter said. “I think he will be welcomed by those career employees in the department who are as committed to professionalism in the department, as he is.”

(This version CORRECTS that Barr was attorney general during first Bush administration, not the Reagan administration.)