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WASHINGTON
Embattled U.S. attorney general Alberto Gonzales, who has been at the center of a swirling ethics controversy for about eight months, on Monday announced that he will resign on September 17.

The New York Times reports that Gonzales privately informed President Bush of his decision on the previous Friday.

Gonzales has been accused of politicizing the U.S. Justice Department by firing U.S. attorneys who did not display party loyalty. Critics, including many U.S. senators, also allege that he misled Congress when testifying about the details of the mass firing.

Another issue that has dogged Gonzales in recent months is the charge that he misled Congress about circumstances relating to wiretapping of suspected terrorists, reports Bloomberg.

Gonzales announced his resignation at a short press briefing after which he did not answer questions.

While lawmakers from both major parties generally welcomed the resignation, several key Republicans blamed it on politics. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, released a statement saying it was his hope that the next attorney general “is not subjected to the same poisonous partisanship that we’ve sadly grown accustomed to over the past eight months.”

Paul Clement, the nation’s current solicitor general and the fourth-ranking position at the Justice Department, will serve as interim attorney general, according to the Associated Press.