Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., criticized Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., for withholding his vote on all judges until a vote on a bill to protect special counsel Robert Mueller comes to the floor, calling it a “futile gesture.”
“I’m perplexed, frankly, by his pushing for the Mueller protection bill,” McConnell said Monday at a Wall Street Journal CEO Council meeting, arguing that it has two problems. Namely, that it is “blatantly unconstitutional” and that it can’t pass the House or the executive branch.
[Read more: Jeff Flake is running Mitch McConnell’s judicial express off the road]
“It strikes me as what I would call a futile gesture,” McConnell said. “We’re hoping that he’ll change his view on that, but I believe we can confirm the judges that are already out on the floor.
In recent weeks, Flake has withheld his vote for all judicial nominees coming through the Senate Judiciary Committee, effectively stopping any Trump nominee from making it through given that there are 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats on the panel. However, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Monday rescheduled a business meeting to consider 26 judicial nominations.
Flake’s presence helped stop one nominee already through the committee from being confirmed last week as Thomas Farr, a judge nominated to the federal bench. Flake and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., announced that they would oppose him.
The Arizona Republican, who is retiring at the end of Congress, also tried to get a vote by asking for unanimous consent on the Senate floor. The likes of McConnell and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, denied those requests.
