"I don’t think the president’s going to fire Bob Mueller,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said on Tuesday. | AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta Congress Mueller protection bill could get Senate vote The move would pave the way to confirming more of Trump’s judges.

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, though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made clear he has no interest in spending time on the legislation.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said several times Tuesday 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 Court in North Carolina is in danger because of opposition from Democrats and undecided moderates who are concerned he is hostile to voting rights. More worrisome for Republicans is getting judicial nominees through the narrowly divided Judiciary Committee, where Flake’s opposition could tag them with “unfavorable” recommendations if Democrats stay in opposition.

In an interview, Flake said he is standing firm and will not acquiesce to a nonbinding resolution on protecting the special counsel. This summer, Flake took a similar stand to demand a vote on congressional authority over Trump’s tariffs, but he backed down after a nonbinding measure was considered.

“A resolution in place of a vote? No. It’s got to be the bill,” Flake said after Cornyn hinted that a vote was possible. “Let’s vote.”

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Cornyn told reporters Tuesday morning that Republicans are willing to hold a vote “if that’s what it’s going to take” to move more nominees.

“We are whipping the bill to see where people are, to give us an idea of what the outcome would be,” Cornyn said. “That’s the leader’s call. … It’s entirely up to Sen. McConnell.”

McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked a previous attempt at a vote this month and said he would “probably” do the same if Flake tried again to bring it up unilaterally.

“This is a solution in search of a problem. The president is not going to fire Robert Mueller,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “We have a lot of things to do to try to finish up this year without taking votes on things that are completely irrelevant to outcomes.”

Senate Republicans could also measure support for the bill in the caucus and try to show 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.

But Flake said nothing short of an actual floor vote will sway him, and it must occur for him to break his opposition to moving forward on judicial nominees.

Democrats have joined Flake’s call, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York reiterated his hopes that the bill would be included in a must-pass spending bill next week. Republican leaders have shrugged off those demands, which would force a confrontation with the president and complicate a shutdown fight that’s already raging over Trump’s border wall.

Though Trump continues to rail against Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, McConnell has said the bill is not necessary, and he has shown little interest in holding a vote on it.

The legislation would ensure that special counsels can be fired for making mistakes on the job or other “good cause” and allows judicial review of firings for other reasons. It also would allow only Senate-confirmed officials to fire the special counsel; acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker — a longtime critic of the Mueller probe — has not been confirmed.

For now, only a handful of Republicans support the Mueller protection bill, and few are pushing as hard as Flake, who said he believes the bill can get 60 votes.

“It’s a hard bill to vote against,” Flake said.

GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine all back the bill, and several other Republicans have said they could support it. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who opposed the bill in committee, said supporters “have every right” to have a vote on the measure.

“If we can have a relatively expedited up or down vote, and my preference is that it fail, but at least he will have had his shot. And my hope is that he then agree to let us confirm the judges that are on the calendar,” Cornyn said on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show. “They’ve been through a long, arduous process, many of them putting their practice and their families on hold while they’re waiting for confirmation. So it’s unfair to simply tell them to start over again next year.”

The Farr nomination is among the trickiest votes left this year for Republicans, with Democrats hoping to pick off one more Republican to bring him down.

Republicans did pick up a key supporter on Tuesday: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will support Farr, according to a source familiar with his plans, suggesting that the nominee is not in as much trouble as a previous nominee — Ryan Bounds, who was withdrawn after Rubio and other Republicans turned against him in July.

Collins, a key swing vote, also will support Farr.

Marianne LeVine contributed to this report.

