Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., Wednesday defended President Trump’s ability to appoint acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to head the Justice Department.
“I have only seen speculation that Mr. Whitaker might do something. I haven’t seen any allegations that he’s done something,” Kennedy said during an interview with CNN. “And given the fact that he is the choice of the duly elected president of the United States, I think we ought to give the guy a chance and let him find the men’s room before we start bashing him. It’s not like the president appointed, I don’t know, Michael Avenatti or Justin Bieber.”
Kennedy, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he disagreed with some of Whitaker’s legal positions, including his suggestion that special counsel Robert Mueller’s federal Russia investigation could be curtailed through funding cuts. But he also believed Trump was entitled to surround himself with advisers of his choice.
[Opinion: The Senate shouldn’t be sleeping on Whitaker’s unconstitutional appointment]
Kennedy additionally voiced his support Wednesday of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., thwarting attempts to introduce a bipartisan bill protecting Muller in the upper chamber because he considered it unconstitutional and unnecessary.
“I don’t think the Congress can tell the executive branch who it can hire and fire any more than the executive branch can tell Congress,” he said. “If the president thinks I’m doing a lousy job on the Appropriations Committee, constitutionally, he can’t call the Senate and say, ‘Fire Kennedy.'”
Whitaker served as now-fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ chief of staff at DOJ. He was appointed to the top job last week following Trump demanding Sessions’ resignation. Whitaker has argued that Mueller’s office has ventured beyond the scope of its mandate, prompting Democrats to express concerns he may interfere with the probe.
