Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday rejected legislation from Sen. Jeff Flake aimed at protecting special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired by President Trump.
Flake, R-Ariz., and several other senators are worried that Trump’s decision to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions is a sign Trump might soon try to move against Mueller, who is investigating Trump’s alleged ties to Russia during the 2016 election. Trump’s new acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, has also said previously he’s opposed to the Mueller investigation, which has raised more fears that Mueller’s work could be stopped.
But when Flake asked the Senate to quickly pass the bill by unanimous consent, it was blocked by McConnell, R-Ky., who objected without making any additional comment on the Senate floor.
“I object,” McConnell said.
Unanimous consent allows the Senate to quickly pass legislation that isn’t controversial. Bills can also be passed through regular order, but that requires support from the Senate majority, and McConnell has made it clear he opposes the bill. Earlier in the day, McConnell said the bill is unnecessary.
“As you can imagine, I talk to the president fairly often,” McConnell told reporters. “He’s given no indication the Mueller investigation will not be allowed to finish.”
“We know how the president feels about the Mueller investigation, but he’s never said he wants to shut it down,” he added.
Still, several other GOP senators have said they could support it, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and the legislation’s co-sponsors, Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
Graham and Tillis introduced the legislation in mid-2017, and it passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in April.
The bill holds that Mueller can only be fired for good cause by a Senate-confirmed Justice Department official, and it would create a 10-day review process that would let Mueller seek expedited judicial review if Trump tries to get rid of him. The bill would also block a decision to fire Mueller if that move were found to be in violation of the good-cause condition.
After his floor appearance, Flake predicted the bill would pass in the Senate if McConnell allowed it.
“If we have the vote, it will pass overwhelmingly,” he said.
Flake said Trump’s decision to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions prompted him to take the extraordinary step of threatening to block judicial nominees whose confirmation are McConnell’s number one priority.
“You use what leverage you have,” Flake told reporters. “This is priority now.”
Flake called Sessions’ ouster, “this blatant move on the special counsel,” and said, “That is the reason we are doing this.”
Republican Senators queried by the Washington Examiner said they are in favor of the Mueller protection bill but aren’t pushing to bring it to the floor because they, like McConnell, do not believe Trump will fire Mueller.
“I would support it if it came to the floor, but I don’t see any threat to Mueller,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said.
