Schumer: Mueller protection bill would pass by ‘very large majority’
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to give legislation limiting President Trump’s ability to fire special counsel Robert Mueller a vote, predicting it would pass by a “very large majority.”
“We should pass it out of committee. Leader McConnell should bring it to the floor of the Senate quickly, where I believe it would pass with a very large majority, and we should pressure our colleagues in the House to do the same,” Schumer said from the Senate floor.
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McConnell hasn’t signaled what he will do if the special counsel bill, which was introduced on Wednesday, clears the Judiciary Committee. Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and his staff say they expect the panel to vote on the bill on April 26.
He told reporters on Tuesday that he had not seen the need to take up legislation.
With GOP Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Democrats on the committee expected to back the bill, it has enough support to clear the Judiciary Committee even if most of the Republican members oppose it.
But it’s less clear that it could get 60 votes on the Senate floor, much less the two-thirds needed to overcome a potential presidential veto.
Asked if the bill could pass, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters that “no, not at 60, for sure.”
The bill would have an even harder path in the House, where some of Trump’s conservative allies are urging him to fire top Justice Department officials.
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