The latest controversy surrounding embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has done little to change the public’s perception of the situation.

A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 1,200 likely voters finds that 41% believe that Gonzales should resign. That’s little changed since late April when 43% thought he should step down. In March, 39% held that view.

Today, just 28% say he should keep his job. That’s down slightly from 32% in the previous Rasmussen Reports survey.

Twenty-eight percent (28%) of American voters now have a favorable opinion of Gonzales while 51% hold an unfavorable view. Those numbers have changed little from surveys conducted earlier in the year.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) have been following the news of the AG's troubles at least somewhat closely. That figure includes 30% say they're following it very closely.

The attorney general is currently facing questions about whether he perjured himself in congressional testimony about controversy within the Bush Administration over a wiretapping program--specifically, whether in 2004 Gonzalez helped pressure then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to approve a lapsing program while Ashcroft was in the hospital. Some Democrats have demanded an investigation of Gonzalez.

Democrats, by a 53% to 10% margin, say Gonzales should resign. Republicans, by a 54% to 22% margin, say he should stay. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 47% say he should resign and 19% take the opposite view.

Voters are fairly evenly divided on whether Gonzalez broke the law when the Justice Department suddenly fired eight U.S. attorneys last year. Thirty-four percent (34%) believe he did break the law. Another 34% say he did not, and 31% aren't sure.

Only a third (33%) of voters say Gonzalez did nothing wrong in dismissing the attorneys. Forty-two percent (42%) disagree. That’s eight points higher than the number who believe he broke the law. This finding is consistent with a belief that although the administration may have had the legal authority to pink-slip the attorneys, the decision-making involved was unconscionably sloppy.

Although some pundits believe Gonzalez is clinging to his job by his fingernails, a plurality of Americans don't think he'll either resign or be fired. Only 35% think it's at least somewhat likely he'll get the axe; 45% disagree.

Updates on public attitudes towards events in the news and other topics can be found on the Rasmussen Reports home page.

Rasmussen Reports also provides continuous updates on the favorability ratings of Republican and Democratic Presidential candidates, Members of Congress, Other Political Figures such as Gonzales, and Journalists.

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