The Senate on Wednesday rejected Sen. Jeff Flake for the third time as he tried to pass a bill to protect special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired by President Trump.
Flake has been pushing for weeks to pass a bill that would keep Trump from firing Mueller before the end of his investigation into Russian election influence. That investigation has expanded to other areas and has led to several indictments.
Trump has opposed the investigation from the start, and his decision to fire former Attorney General Jeff Sessions led some to worry that Trump could fire Mueller next.
But Flake hasn’t found sympathy for his bill among Senate Republican leaders. Twice in November, Republicans blocked his request to pass a bill that would only allow Mueller to be fired for good cause, and not for political reasons.
On Wednesday, Flake tried again by asking senators to agree unanimously to pass the same bill. But Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said quickly, “I object,” which blocked the move.
“We need to protect the independence of the special counsel and allow this crucial investigation and any like it in the future to run their course,” Flake said on the Senate floor after it was blocked.
In mid-November, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., blocked Flake’s bill, and said afterwards it isn’t needed because he doesn’t think Trump will intrude on Mueller’s work.
“He’s given no indication the Mueller investigation will not be allowed to finish,” McConnell said.
In late November, Flake was blocked by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who said he worried the bill was unconstitutional because it would create a branch of government that isn’t answerable to the president.
“We cannot convert an office like this one, an office like the previously existing office of independence counsel without creating a de facto fourth branch of government fundamentally undermining the principal of separation of powers that is so core to our liberty,” Lee said.
