Fox News co-host Dana Perino on Friday night suggested former Homeland Security head John Kelly was named new White House chief of staff to clear a path for President Trump to remove Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsGOP set to release controversial Biden report Trump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status MORE.

Sessions has been in disfavor with President Trump for some time, with the president's criticism rapidly escalating over the past week.

But if Trump named Sessions as the new head of DHS, it could appease conservatives who believe the attorney general is doing a good job on immigration, according to Perino, who is a former press secretary to former President George W. Bush.

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“I think that this was all set up for a few weeks because the president has been so upset about Jeff Sessions and his recusal in the Russia investigation,” Perino suggested on her show "The Five."

“The Republicans and conservatives that came to Jeff Sessions’ defense this week all said, ‘But he’s doing the best on the issue we care about most, and that is immigration,'" she continued.

Sessions, a former GOP senator, has received wide support among his former colleagues.

“Well, where can Jeff Sessions do even more on immigration? As the Secretary of Homeland Security," Perino said. "So I think what they’re going to try to do is move Sessions over to DHS, and then how can conservatives complain?"

Perino added that removing Sessions from his post would also clear the way for Trump to appoint a new attorney general who could "fire" Robert Mueller, the special counsel in charge of leading the probe into Russian election interference. Trump has expressed anger at Mueller's investigation, calling it a "witch hunt."



"And then you have a new AG who can fire Mueller," Perino said.

Trump has attacked Sessions on social media. In a July 19 New York Times interview, he stated that Sessions should not have recused himself from the investigation into possible ties between Russia and Trump campaign associates during the 2016 campaign. Mueller is now leading that part of the investigation as well.



"Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else," Trump said.

Sessions called the president's comments "a little hurtful" in an interview with Fox's Tucker Carlson but indicated he will not resign.