Rachel Brand, a well-respected Republican lawyer who became a partisan lightning rod in the Senate earlier this year, would be the lead official at the Department of Justice overseeing the Russia probe if Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein recuses himself.

Rosenstein, who is now in charge of the probe, is mulling the recusal, according to ABC News.

The deputy attorney general recommended that President Trump fire FBI Director James Comey, a decision that could be a big element of an obstruction of justice probe.

It increasingly appears the special counsel’s investigation will include the question of obstruction of justice, something Trump himself hinted at on Friday.

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While Rosenstein last month appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as special counsel for the investigation, senior Justice Department officials still have power over personnel, resources and prosecutorial decisions.

Democrats are alarmed by the prospect of Brand taking over for Rosenstein, who enjoyed broad bipartisan support during his Senate confirmation process and demonstrated his independence last month by tapping Mueller, a move that reportedly angered Trump.

Brand, the associate attorney general, currently holds the No. 3 leadership role at the Justice Department, putting her in charge of its civil rights, environment and natural resources, tax and anti-trust divisions.

She is a Harvard Law School graduate who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and served as assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Policy under President George W. Bush.

In her previous stint at Justice, she helped Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito prepare for their Senate confirmation hearings.

“The prospect of her taking over the investigation certainly raises a lot of eyebrows and is concerning to Democrats. She would have to do a lot to prove she would be an impartial and effective steward of the investigation. The burden of proof would be on her,” said a senior Senate Democratic aide.

Not a single Democrat voted for Brand on May 18.

By contrast, Rosenstein, who is now in charge of the Russia investigation, won Senate confirmation by a vote of 94 to 6.

After clerking for Kennedy after law school, Brand joined the law firm Cooper, Carvin & Rosenthal, which is headed by Charles Cooper, a former senior official in the Reagan administration.

After working in the Bush administration, she joined the public policy practice of another law firm, WilmerHale, where she worked on government litigation, congressional investigations and regulatory affairs.

Democrats acknowledge she has top-shelf credentials but they raised objections over her career in the private sector at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Litigation Center. In that role she often represented powerful corporate interests at odds with average Americans, Democrats say.

“Ms. Brand has long championed deregulation and the rolling back of vital environmental, consumer and labor regulations protecting the American people,” Sen. Patrick Leahy Patrick Joseph LeahyBipartisan representatives demand answers on expired surveillance programs Democrats shoot down talk of expanding Supreme Court Battle over timing complicates Democratic shutdown strategy MORE (Vt.), a senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said last month before the Senate voted narrowly to confirm her, 52 to 46.

Leahy asserted in his statement that Brand has in the past “justified indiscriminate surveillance of Americans and defended broad assertions of executive power.”

Other senior Democrats criticized her record.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenHillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Democratic senators ask inspector general to investigate IRS use of location tracking service MORE (D-Mass.), a leading liberal voice in the Senate, said Brand “has extensive experience, years of experience, fighting on behalf of the biggest and richest companies in the world.”

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin Richard (Dick) Joseph DurbinThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Feinstein 'surprised and taken aback' by suggestion she's not up for Supreme Court fight Grand jury charges no officers in Breonna Taylor death MORE (Ill.) raised concerns about Brand’s refusal to pledge during her confirmation process that she would recuse herself from future department matters involving the Chamber of Commerce, her old employer.

Republicans, on the other hand, praised her nomination.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline The Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power MORE (R-Ky.) touted her qualifications and extensive experience.

“Ms. Brand’s impressive background includes experience clerking for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, and she has already been confirmed by the Senate twice before,” he said in a statement.

McConnell noted that former senior former Justice Department officials who served under President Bill Clinton William (Bill) Jefferson ClintonAnxious Democrats amp up pressure for vote on COVID-19 aid Barr's Russia investigator has put some focus on Clinton Foundation: report Epstein podcast host says he affiliated with elites from 'both sides of the aisle' MORE supported her nomination.