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Posted: 11:02 AM- WASHINGTON - While speculation continues that Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, will be named to replace outgoing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, sources close to Hatch say the senator is staying put.

David Hansen, Hatch's campaign manager, said Hatch has not received a call from the White House to fill the Cabinet spot.

"It is not going to happen," Hansen said.

Staffers in Hatch's Senate office said they knew nothing of a potential job switch. Hatch declined any media interviews Monday.

Hatch, a chief defender of Gonzales, did issue a statement commending the attorney general for fighting terrorists and for his work to "protect the American homeland during his tenure."

"I hope that history will remember Attorney General Gonzales for his honorable service to his country, rather than for the absurd political theater to which some critics have subjected him," Hatch added.

Rumors of a prospective Attorney General Hatch started after Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said on "Meet The Press" in April that Hatch was actively campaigning for the top law enforcement job.

Hatch has said he doesn't believe the president would nominate him for the position but he also noted that he wouldn't turn down the president if he asked.