According to the ranking Senator from Texas, John Cornyn, the Senate bill that’s objective is to protect Mueller from being fired by acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker might just get a vote in exchange to clear the Flake-logjam of judicial nominees that need a vote. He’s holding them hostage in order to get a vote on this bill:
POLITICO – The Senate could vote on a bill to protect special counsel Robert Mueller in order to clear away a potential logjam on President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees, the No. 2 Senate Republican said on Tuesday.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said several times on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show that the chamber could vote on a bill that would codify some protections for special counsel investigations, a key demand of Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has said he will oppose all judicial nominees until he gets his vote.
Without Flake, the 51-member GOP has no margin for error on some nominees; a vote this week to install Thomas Farr on a District Count in North Carolina is in danger due to opposition from Democrats and undecided moderates who are concerned he is hostile to voting rights.
“There is a possibility we will have a vote on the so-called Mueller protection bill. But I think there really is some serious constitutional issues on that, and I certainly don’t support it. I don’t think the president’s going to fire Bob Mueller,” Cornyn said. “We are checking with our members now to see exactly… how it would come out. It may be that he does get that opportunity.”
Or they might try another tactic in order to get past the Flake-jam:
Senate Republicans could also measure support for the bill in the caucus and show to Flake the bill can’t pass in a bid to appease him without holding a vote. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider more judges on Thursday.
What you can count on is ALL the Democrats voting for this bill to prevent Whitaker from firing Mueller. So only a couple Republicans would need to flake off at the current numbers in the Senate to pass the bill. Which means there’s a strong likelihood that McConnell would never allow it to come up for a vote, especially if he agreed it had constitutional problems as Cornyn suggests.
I’m not sure exactly why this is even a big deal, as Republicans gain more seats in January and Flake will be history (probably working on CNN). Unless there’s some reason why it must be done during the lame-duck term, I’m not sure why it can’t wait until January.