McConnell dismisses GOP efforts to protect Mueller

Mitch McConnell is just saying no. There will be no Senate vote on protecting special counsel Robert Mueller, no vote on clawing back billions from a new spending law and probably no vote on a war authorization, the Senate majority leader said on Tuesday. Even as the Senate Judiciary Committee is set to advance a bill that would shield the special counsel from removal by President Donald Trump's administration, McConnell says it won't ever see the Senate floor. The Senate majority leader said on Tuesday that the bill is "not necessary" and that Trump would never sign it. And though McConnell doesn't want Trump to fire Mueller, he is making sure that the only viable legislation to offer a backstop for Mueller won't see the Senate floor. "I'm the one who decides what we take to the floor. That's my responsibility as the majority leader and we'll not be having this on the floor of the Senate," McConnell told Fox News's Neil Cavuto on Tuesday afternoon. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responded that McConnell is making a "mistake." "We ought to head off a constitutional crisis at the pass, rather than waiting until it’s too late. I hope the Judiciary Committee moves forward with a bill, and that members of Senator McConnell’s caucus push him to reconsider," Schumer said. Indeed, the remarks are a major blow to Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who have teamed with Democrats to come up with a bipartisan compromise that would allow the special counsel 10 days after termination to seek a review of the dismissal. Both senators said in recent interviews that while they believe Mueller won't be fired, passing the legislation would amount to an important precedent for Trump and future presidents. Tillis said he would work hard to convince McConnell to take the bill up after it clears committee, arguing it’s his responsibility to get it 60 votes and ship it to the House. “I feel like I’m sticking my neck out. I think this makes sense. I don’t believe Trump’s gonna fire Mueller, there’s always intrigue," Graham said. "Special counsels are rare, but there’s really no infrastructure around them to protect them from political interference. And we’re going to protect them through judicial review." Similarly, McConnell undercut an emerging bipartisan effort to replace two old war authorizations with a new proposal that will soon get a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The GOP leader said that he'll "take a look" at what the Senate panel can pass but said he's comfortable using the existing war authorizations, which were enacted in 2001 and 2002. "My own view is the administration clearly has the authority to do what they have been doing," McConnell told Cavuto. The GOP leader wasn't done yet: He had one more effort to throw cold water on in an election-year with little major legislating expected. As the House prepares to pass a bill rescinding billions in spending from last month's massive omnibus package, McConnell said he has no intention of taking it up after hinting last week he would consider it. “We had an agreement with the Democrats,” McConnell said. “Can't make an agreement one month and say: ‘OK, we really didn’t mean it.’” source: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/17/mueller-mconnell-russia-probe-531326 #Headlines by: Burgess Everett

Original Post: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/17/mueller-mconnell-russia-probe-531326