WASHINGTON -- Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said Sunday that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' effectiveness at the Department of Justice has been seriously harmed by the controversy over the firings of eight federal prosecutors.

“I think the country, in fact, would be much better served to have a new team at the Justice Department, across the board,” Gingrich said on Fox News Sunday.

"One of the weaknesses of this administration is that when it has a clear performance failure -- FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) add in parentheses)in New Orleans would be an example - that it is not aggressive enough and direct enough with holding people accountable," he said.

But Gingrich cast the controversy not as one of political corruption at the Department of Justice, but as a mishandled personnel event.

"The president has every right to have the U.S. attorneys he wants. It is not a prerogative of the Senate or anyone else to question if he says he no longer pleases me, they're supposed to resign, period," Gingrich said.

"This is the most mishandled, artificial, self-created mess that I can remember in the years I've been active in public life. And it has to -- you know, the buck has to stop somewhere, and I'm assuming it's the attorney general and his immediate team," he said.

When asked if Gonzales should step down, Gingrich said, "I cannot imagine how he is going to be effective for the rest of this administration. And they're now going to be involved -- thanks to our good friends in the Senate side, they're going to be involved in endless hearings, which is going to take up an immense amount of time and effort."